Fight Facts: Invicta FC 34

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF INVICTA FIGHTS: 305
TOTAL NUMBER OF INVICTA EVENTS: 34

In returning to Kansas City, Kansas, for the first time since Invicta 4, Invicta Fighting Championships on Friday kicked off its first tournament, with solid action and major divisional implications. Invicta 34 featured a new champion who needed three tries to win a title, the two most active fighters in the organization earning wins and one of the rarest stoppages seen in MMA.

ENTER THE TOURNAMENT: The inaugural flyweight tournament began at Invicta 34 -- the first tournament in the history of the promotion -- and featured four semifinalists competing to eventually challenge the winner of the main event for the title.

PRETTY FLY FOR A FIGHT NIGHT: Six bouts at Invicta 34 took place in the flyweight division, the most in a single event by far. No previous Invicta event had ever featured more than three bouts in the 125-pound division.

DOUBLE TAP, BACK OF THE HEAD: Two different fighters tapped out to rear-naked chokes at this event, joining six other shows that have had multiple rear-naked choke stoppages in a single night. The last occurred at Invicta 19 in 2016.

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE THIRD TIME: In her third Invicta title bout, Vanessa Porto finally won a belt. She became the first fighter to ever win a championship after losing her first two title fights inside the promotion.

THE EYE’S THE LIMIT: Porto suffered an eye poke at 2:34 of the fourth round, forcing the doctor to call a stop to the championship bout against Pearl Gonzalez. As the foul was inadvertent but still ended the fight after several rounds, it went to the judges’ scorecards for a technical decision, scoring the bout for as far as it had gotten. Porto won on all three scorecards to earn the title.

FIRST IS THE WORST: The main event resulted in the first technical decision in Invicta history. By comparison, there have only been seven technical decisions in combined Ultimate Fighting Championship-World Extreme Cagefighting-Pride Fighting Championships-Strikeforce history, spanning 6,754 fights.

DON’T LOOK AT THE PICTURE: The stoppage in the main event between Porto and Gonzalez was officially the first time a foul has ever stopped an Invicta fight. Of note, a no-contest between Miriam Nakamoto and Jessamyn Duke at Invicta 5 was initially ruled a TKO win for Nakamoto but was later overturned when determining the knee causing the stoppage was illegal.

… IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS: The injury stoppage in the title fight marked the seventh time an Invicta bout has ended in the fourth round and the eighth time a fight has been stopped after the third round.

HATE TO WIN LIKE THAT: By winning in unfortunate fashion, Porto tied three other fighters -- including fellow Invicta 34 victor DeAnna Bennett -- for the second-most wins in company history with six.

PORTO PLENTY: With her 10th Invicta fight, Porto extended her record for the most appearances inside the promotion. Bennett moved into sole possession of second place with nine.

INVICTA GIRL: All six of Miranda Maverick’s career bouts have taken place in Invicta. Her sixth bout tied Felicia Spencer for the most bouts by one fighter in Invicta without competing for any other organization.

ONE STEP BACK, TWO STEPS FORWARD: After finishing Jamie Milanowski with a rear-naked choke, Victoria Leonardo won a “Performance of the Night” bonus for her efforts. Leonardo became the eighth fighter in the history of the promotion to be on the winning and losing ends of “Performance of the Night”-earning bouts. Leonardo previously tapped out to an armbar from Maverick at Invicta 31 that earned the latter that bonus.

SEE YOU AT THE PARTY, RICKER: By finishing Christina Ricker in the second round with punches and elbows, Caitlin Sammons earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus after becoming the third flyweight in Invicta history to finish an opponent with elbows.

THIS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A SURPRISE: Helena Kolesnyk was slated to face Faith McMah at featherweight at this event, but she came in at 156.3 pounds -- 10.3 pounds over the limit -- and was pulled from the card. This is the second event in a row at which a fighter has weighed in a full weight class above her opponent. Jamie Moyle hit 125.1 pounds for a strawweight bout at Invicta 33 and lost to Brianna Van Buren.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into Invicta FC 34, no event had ever taken place without any bouts below 125 pounds, Gonzalez had never fought beyond the third round and Erin Blanchfield had never been defeated.

NO STOP SIGN: Two different fighters at the event were accompanied by songs from Aussie rockers AC/DC, splitting the night with a win and a loss. Gonzalez entered to “Highway to Hell” and lost by technical decision, while Leonardo emerged out to “You Shook Me All Night Long” in her bout and prevailed by submission. One of the five most frequently used walkout artists over in the UFC, the band holds a paltry winning percentage of .365 -- the lowest of any artist with at least 25 recorded uses inside the Octagon.

IT MEANS ‘NO WORRIES’: In a very unusual walkout music battle, Holli Logan walked out to “Hakuna Matata,” while opponent Courtney King walked out to “Circle of Life” by Elton John, both from “The Lion King” soundtrack. “The Lion” defeated “The Huntress” by submission.

THE STUDENT HAS BECOME THE MASTER: In a cover that far exceeds the quality of the original, Sammons walked out to DevilDriver’s cover of popular electronic rock song “Sail” and won by knockout. Over in the UFC, no fighter has ever walked out to this cover, but the original has been used at least 21 times, with a winning percentage of just .381.