Murphy-Nakamoto Invicta FC title fight Saturday night on PPV

HOBOKEN, NJ (December 3, 2013) – Undefeated knockout artist Lauren Murphy (7-0) and unbeaten rising star Miriam Nakamoto (2-0, 1 NC) will battle this Saturday night (Dec. 7) for the inaugural Invicta FC bantamweight (135 pounds) title, in one of three world championship fights featured on Invicta Fighting Championships 7, airing live on pay-per-view from Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.

The loaded, eight-bout event is headlined by Inficta FC flyweight champion Barb Honchak 

(8-2) defending her belt against three-time “Fight of the Night” winner Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (6-3-1).

Invicta FC strawweight (115 lbs.) champion Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza (9-2) defends her crown against undefeated Brazilian superstar Claudia Gadelha (11-0) in the other world title fight.
Invicta Fight Championships 7 is being distributed in North American by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9:00 p.m. ET – 6:00 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DISH, Avail-TVN in the United States, as well as Bell TV, Shaw PPV, SaskTel, TELUS, and MTS in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $14.95.
Murphy has been perfect in the Invicta FC cage, earning back-to-back unanimous decision victories over Kaitlin Young and D’Alelio on April 5 and July 13, respectively.  Prior to her Invicta FC debut, the 30-year-old had scored TKO finishes in all five of her fights.

“I think this will be a bad ass fight,” said Murphy, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska.  “We are two of the best female 135-pounders in the world.  She’s tough, I’m tough, and we’re both ready to beat the crap out of each other.  It’s going to be a great fight!  I’m hoping for a down-and-dirty war.  Those are the fights I love the most.

“Being a pay-per-view event really speaks to the caliber of fighters Invicta has.  If Invicta is willing to broadcast its fights for the world to see, then Invicta is obviously confident that it has the best fighters in the world.  Fighters are worked even harder in training camp so they can put on the very best show they can, knowing it is going to be visible to everyone.  Better camps mean better fighters, better fighters mean better fights.  It makes a big difference in sponsorships, too.  More fighters get better sponsors because the sponsors’ names are going to be out there for the world to see.”

Veteran Muay Thai champion Nakamoto, fighting out of Dublin, California, extended her perfect record at Invicta FC 6, scoring a first round (2:08) TKO on Duda Yankovich off a knee strike and series of punches, earning her “KO of the Night” honors.
“She’s (Nakamoto) undefeated and, since she is an eight-time Muay Thai world champion, she obviously has strong stand-up skills,” Murphy continued.”As far as her ground game, I suppose, that remains to be seen. We’re all going to find out what type of fighter she is on December 7th.

“I predict this will be the Fight of the Night, one that people are going to be talking about for a long time.  I think fans and spectators without a doubt are going to be the real winners.  At the end of the fight, I hope to have that belt around my waist, while my hand is raised.  I’ve worked hard and made improvements where I needed to.  I believe in me, my coaches believe in me, and I am going to get in there and fight my heart out.  I love to fight and I am excited to get in there and put on a great show for the fans.”

Fighting on the PPV undercard is Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig (9-4) in her highly-anticipated Invicta FC debut versus against strawweight Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres 

(3-0), Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood (7-0) and Finland’s Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpaa (8-0-1) meet in a battle of unbeaten strawweights, and Canadian featherweights (145 lbs.) Julia “The Jewel” Budd (5-2) and Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet (4-3) square-off.

 

All fights and fighters are subject to change.