Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp. Photo credit: Esther Lin/Invicta FC

By Joshua Molina

Just days before staging its fifth Internet Pay Per View this Friday, Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp said her all-female mixed martial arts organization is in negotiations with a broadcast partner to bring the year-old company to television by the end of 2013.

“There are a lot of possibilities,” Knapp told fcfighter.com. “The demand for the promotion and the product is fairly high. We have a lot of issues on the Internet. It’s a priority for me to find a good home.”

January’s Invicta show was plagued by Internet connection problems. Knapp eventually gave the show away for free because of so many complaints that viewers couldn’t get a consistent video feed from her Internet broadcast partner Ustream. Friday’s $9.95 show, Knapp said, will feature a satellite feed, which will bring more clarity to the stream.

Going forward, however, Knapp said she is “in dialogue with three or four” television broadcast outlets to move from the web to television.

“I love Showtime,” she said, as an example. “I have worked with them for years. They get it. I think they do a good job of promoting the events, whether boxing or MMA.”

Knapp said the company’s focus was to build an audience during its first year and now it’s time to move to the next level.

“The plan was to give the content away and build a brand and do it quickly and effectively,” Knapp said. “As we roll into 2013, we look at a year of monetizing.”

Michelle "The Karate Hottie" Waterson (left) will challenge reigning champ Jessica Penne for the Invicta FC world atomweight (105 pounds) title on Friday

Friday’s Internet Pay Per View event from Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Missouri is very well the biggest all-female MMA card in U.S. history.

Along with established stars such as Sarah Kaufman, Julia Budd, Zoila Frausto and Jessica Penne, the 13-fight card features the Invicta FC debut of Cris Cyborg, the former Strikeforce 145-pound featherweight Champion who is widely regarded as the best female fighter in the world not named Ronda Rousey.

Cyborg,10-1, never lost her championship, but was stripped of it after she tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Strikeforce eventually folded in 2012.

“Everyone knows who Cyborg is,” Knapp said. “When you find an athlete who has that kind of exposure it’s great for the promotion.”

Cyborg will step into the cage against Australian Fiona Muxlow. Knapp said she is looking forward to Cyborg’s redemption.

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Knapp said. “There’s always a bunch of critics out there. I feel confident. I believe in her. I have worked with her for a long time.”

Knapp, a former executive for Strikeforce as well as the UFC, said she knows the “real” Cyborg.

“Cris is a very, very kind-hearted person outside of the cage,” Knapp said. “She’s a caring person. She’s caring about animals, children. She is just your all-around nice female.”

The Invicta show comes two months after the UFC promoted the first and biggest women’s MMA match in history between UFC Bantamweight (135 pounds) Champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Liz Carmouche. Rousey won by first-round armbar, surviving an early submission attempt.

At a time when Knapp is spending every waking hour trying to promote the concept of big-time women’s MMA in Invicta, Rousey in a different, more popular promotion, is the face of women’s MMA.

“Who cares?” Knapp said. “It doesn’t bother me at all. My thing is, UFC has been around for a long time. They are certainly the biggest and the baddest on the playground. I understand the business side. It motivates me to make sure that fans see not just one athlete out there.”

Knapp, who worked for the UFC before working for Strikeforce, said she learned a lot from both companies, but credits the UFC with being the more professional organization.

“I think the UFC is a well-oiled machine,” Knapp said. “It’s very professional in terms of the way the business runs. I always like the atmosphere of how they treat the athletes like athletes. Of course I learned a lot of things working for them and as a rival promotion. Strikeforce was run on a completely smaller staff. It didn’t feel as structured, whether it was making sure the athletes had bottled water behind the scenes as opposed to having to fill a cup.”

If Knapp lands the television deal, one of her goals is to start a reality show that puts the spotlight on the female fighters. It won’t, however, be a copy of the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter.

“For us, there is more of a story to tell and that is not the format I would be looking to sell,” Knapp said.

Knapp hopes the interest in women’s MMA continues and that it is not a fad, like has been seen with other women’s sports such as basketball via the WNBA, where there was a big buzz to start before interest faded.

“This past year, the numbers that we have pulled, and the performance of the athletes, have been a whirlwhind,” Knapp said. “Our ticket sales are good. Our prebuys are good. Hopefully we will be blessed with continuous success. There is an appetite for women’s MMA.”

Email reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com
Read Joshua Molina’s interview with Cris Cyborg’s opponent Fiona Muxlow by clicking HERE.

Bec Hyatt (left) and Carla Esparza (right) headlined Invicta FC 4 last night. Photo credit: Esther Lin/Invicta FC

By Joshua Molina

Shannon Knapp may be the owner of Invicta FC, but she proved Saturday night that she also has the heart and brains of a fighter.

That’s because even though she hit some turbulence in the early rounds of Invicta FC’s foray into Pay Per View, she showed that she knows how to adjust her game under pressure – and still win the fight.

Knapp decided to take down the pay wall and stream the fight for free after viewers reported difficulties successfully logging into the show.

Her decision means that fans still won, despite the technical problems.  Streaming the fight for free means that viewers will be more likely to pay for the show next time.

Invicta’s show lasted more than five hours, including two fights that Invicta offered for free to start the show.

In the show stealer, a bloodied Alexis Davis choked out Shayna Baszler with a devastating rear naked choke. Baszler, who won the first between the two by decision, refused to tap out and fell limp in dramatic fashion.

Baszler displayed the heart and guts of many female fighters on the show and in Invicta FC who not afraid to fight or take a punch.

While there are a million opinions about the differences between male and female fighters, one point that is practically indisputable is that women put on great fights.

In the other news of the night, Carla Esparza defeated Bec Hyatt by an overwhelming unanimous decision to win the company’s first 115 pounds Straw Weight Championship.

In another close fight, Tamikka Brents narrowly defeated Amanda Bell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), in an outcome that could have gone either way. Jodie Esquibel defeated Liz McCarthy by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27), in a battle that seemed like it should have gone the other way.

Despite the Pay Per View problems with the first show, Invicta is committed to Pay Per View in the long run.
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Invicta is expected to return in April with Invicta FC 5, headlined by former Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman.

Kaufman is also reportedly also under contract with the UFC, where she will likely compete later in the year, if she can bounce back from her embarrassing loss to Ronda Rousey last year.

It’s unclear whether the UFC will stick with women’s MMA once the sheen of Rousey dissipates, which makes the existence and success of Invicta FC all the more important and necessary for female fighters and fans in 2013.

Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp

By Joshua Molina

Shannon Knapp was not like other little girls.

She never wanted to be Barbie or read Cosmopolitan magazine.

Instead, she coaxed her mom into buying her Soldier of Fortune magazine. A pre-adolescent Knapp would scour the pages of the warrior publication, soaking in every word, photo and product description crammed in the back of the publication.

She wanted to be a Ninja.

“I used to lay in bed imagining ‘if I hit him like this, he’ll fall this way,’” said Knapp, now 45.

Knapp’s dream, of sorts, has came true. She’s a strategic warrior competing in the cut-throat, unorthodox world of big-time mixed martial arts.

She’s traded in the imaginary black garb for a business suit, and her fight is not covert, but rather very public as she battles to bring women’s mixed martial arts into the mainstream.

As president of Invicta FC, she has emerged as a pioneer of the sport, looking to provide a platform for females to fight and demonstrate their skills.

She’s not interested in gimmick matches or one-time pay days promoting mismatched girl-on-girl fights. She’s not there to provide soft-porn entertainment.

This isn’t the Lingerie Football League.

“Every day we are breaking down barriers,” Knapp told fcfighter.com. “But America is still a society of GI Joe and not GI Jane.

Leslie Smith (left) and Kaitlin Young (right) will face off in a rematch to their barnburner first fight this Saturday. Photo credit: Esther Lin/Invicta FC

Knapp’s next big battle is this Saturday’s when Invicta FC holds its third card, once again in Kansas City, Kansas.

The 14-match show, like the first two, will be streamed live on the internet at invictafc.com.

Knapp, in an attempt to build an audience, gives the product away for free on the web. The first show had more than 233,000 unique visitors.

The second show had more viewers, although she has not released the exact figures. She said she wants people to be focused on the product, not viewership numbers.

The show comes at a time when women’s MMA is experiencing massive mainstream attention.

The rise of Olympic Judo bronze medalist Ronda Rousey, the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, has turned people’s focus onto the female side of the sport.

Dana White, the president of the UFC, once an enemy of women’s MMA, now says he is interested in promoting the genre.

But much of the interest in the sport has centered on the Barbie doll-like Rousey, whose tan body, blonde mane and sassy attitude isn’t exactly emblematic of the rest of the women in MMA. Knapp wants to spotlight fighter abilities over looks by promoting competitive matches.

Women’s MMA can be as thrilling, athletic and skill-based if the matches are competitive.

There are plenty of women who want to fight, Knapp said. It’s just a matter of finding them and providing them an opportunity to grow in the sport.

“Our fighters come from everywhere,” Knapp said.

Although Invicta FC is new, Knapp’s involvement in MMA isn’t. The polite, respectful and smart Knapp has worked as an executive in the sport for years, as matchmaker in Strikeforce, the IFL, King of the Cage and other MMA endeavors.

She has seen what has worked and what hasn’t and is hoping to develop the perfect recipe for success in Invicta FC.

Like the UFC, Invicta offers $1,500 Fight of the Night bonuses; $1,000 for submission or knockout of the night; and a $1,000 Twitter bonus to the fighter who best promotes the show on social media.

She said that her fighters also get paid competitive wages and that “no one gets paid $500” to step inside the cage.

“We pay fair market value,” Knapp said. “We never undercut.”

Saturday’s show will also feature the crowning of the first champion in the 105 pound division.

Jessica Penne (9-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. will fight undefeated phenom Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (8-0) of Kyoto, Japan at atomweight, in what will also be the first-ever Invicta FC women’s world title bout.

Knapp believes establishing titles will further legitimize the Invicta FC brand. People see Rousey walking around with a title belt and fans now expect to see female champions.

“She (Rousey) is doing amazing things for the sport,” Knapp said. “Every day she helps the sport grow and brings awarenes to it. She helps my cause.”

Knapp acknowledges, however, that Rousey isn’t exactly highly regarded backstage.

“She’s an attractive girl and she doesn’’t mind telling people what she thinks,” Knapp said. “There are a lot of girls in the sport who don’t like it. But I totally support her in what she is doing. We are fighting the same fight. We need to work hard together as a community to make a difference.”

To the women who don’t like Rousey’s attitude, Knapp says she tells them to “save it for the cage.”

Time will tell, Knapp said, if Rousey is as good as a lot of people believe that she is.

“Is she that much better right now? As far as right now she is proving that she is in an elite class,” Knapp said. “But there are still athletes out there that she hasn’t faced. Is she the Jon Jones, the Anderson Silva or the GSP? She could be. We just don’t know that.”

Knapp said White “absolutely will” promote women’s MMA and if Rousey continues her “reign of terror” White will create a women’s division.

In Invicta FC, they have five weight divisions – from 105 pounds to 145 pounds. The weight classes will allow women to compete closer to their natural weight. In the past, women would jump up 10 or 20 pounds, just to get a fight.

“Women have suffered for these reasons and that has hurt the sport,” Knapp said. “They have had a lack of opportunity to continue to evolve. The public has seen so many mismatches.”

The goal is to have talent in every weight class.

Knapp is not a little girl anymore, but she still dreams big. She is eager to make Invicta FC a success. Like a Ninja, she’s poised and ready to strategically strike.

This Saturday she will launch her latest attack – to show the world how beautiful — and skilled women’s MMA can be.

“In the past few years the acceptance of women’s MMA has grown, but it is still not to the masses,” Knapp said. “Breaking down barriers is going to take some time.”