Sarah D'Alelio (right), who stopped Vanessa Mariscal (left) at the first Invicta FC event in April, will replace injured Kelly Kobold, against Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC 2 on July 28

By FCF Staff

Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (5-2) of San Jose, Calif. will replace injured Kelly Kobold in a bantamweight (135 pound) matchup against streaking superstar Vanessa Porto (14-4) of Sao Paulo, Brazil on the main card at the Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann all-women’s professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. on Sat., July 28.

Kobold was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a shoulder injury sustained during a routine training session.

“Vanessa’s really tough, really strong, really aggressive and good on the ground, but I’m all of those things too,” said the 31-year-old D’Alelio, analyzing the matchup with Porto.  “This is a great fight and I think it’s going to be a serious battle.  If I win, it will put me in top contender status.

D’Alelio’s start will be her second for Invicta FC.  At the debut event on April 28, she forced Vanessa Mariscal to verbally submit in the second round of their matchup from an onslaught of punches.  The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for D’Alelio.

The 28-year-old Porto will enter the Invicta FC cage looking for her fifth consecutive victory.  In her last effort on March 10, she scored a 41 second KO on Luana Teixeira with a one punch in a matchup in Brazil.

Porto, who hasn’t been pushed past the second round by any of her last four opponents and finished three of them inside the first stanza, doesn’t look at D’Alelio as any different from her previous adversaries.

Vanessa Porto

“It’s just one more opponent.  I’m here to fight and do not choose whom I fight,” said Porto.  “I will fight anybody in the world at 135 pounds.”

Porto earned her black belt under her husband and first trainer Pedro Iglesias, who will serve as one of her cornermen against D’Alelio on July 28.  She began training with Iglesias in 2004.

Tickets for Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann are available for purchase online at Ticketmaster.com.

Updated Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann fight card:

Main Card:

Main Event:  Bantamweight (135 pounds): Sara McMann (5-0) vs. Shayna Baszler (14-6)

Bantamweight:  Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (18-9) vs. Alexis Davis (11-5)

Bantamweight:  Liz “Girl-rilla” Carmouche (6-2) vs. Kaitlin Young (7-5-1)

Bantamweight: Sarah D’Alelio (5-2) vs. Vanessa Porto (14-4)

Flyweight (115 pounds):  Akaya Hamasaki (7-0) vs. Jasminka “Impressive” Cive (5-0)

Bantamweight:  Amanda Nunes (6-2) vs. Milana Dudieva (8-1)

Super Flyweight (125 pounds):  Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak (5-2) vs. Bethany Marshall (4-0)

Featherweight (145 pounds):  Julia “The Jewel” Budd (2-2) vs. Elina Nilsson (2-2)

Flyweight:  Carla Esparza (6-2) vs. Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider (6-5)

Preliminary Card:

Bantamweight:  Sarah Moras (2-0) vs. Raquel Pennington (1-0)

Bantamweight:  Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke (0-0) vs. Suzie Montero (1-0)

Super Flyweight:  Jocelyn “Lights Out” Lybarger (0-0) vs. Cheryl Chan (0-0)

Atomweight (105 pounds):  Nicdali Calanoc-Rivera (7-6) vs. Angelica Chavez (4-1)

Atomweight:  Jessica Philippus (0-0) vs. Liz McCarthy (0-0)