Brianna Van Buren was a woman possessed in Friday’s “Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising Series 1” one-night tournament.
The 28-year-old from Gilroy, Calif., was bold from the get-go in the eight-woman, single-elimination tournament, which crowned a new strawweight champion at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.
Along the way to claiming the title, Van Buren (10-2) scored the only finish of the quarterfinal round with an armbar of Manjit Kolekar, called out and defeated the tourney’s biggest name in the semifinals in Julianna Lima, then ended an inspired underdog in Kailin Curran via second-round submission to claim the championship.
“You want smoke, come get it,” Van Buren said.
Van Buren wasted little time in the opening round of the bracket, scoring a takedown early, pummeling Kolekar with left hands as she got back to her feet and then transitioning into a nifty armbar to end the fight at the 3:20 mark.
The evening’s quarterfinal and semifinal rounds were one five-minute round each, with the finals scheduled for three five-minute rounds.
Invicta decreed that the fighter who got the quickest finish in the opening round would be allowed to pick their semifinal-round opponent. Van Buren was the only contestant to earn a quarterfinal finish, and she made a bold choice by calling out the biggest name in the bracket, former UFC competitor Juliana Lima.
If Lima, who had earned a split-decision victory over Danielle Taylor in the opening round, was offended by the callout, she didn’t get much of a chance to do anything about it, as Van Buren used her smothering wrestling game to control their five-minute fight and earn a unanimous decision.
That put Van Buren up against the sentimental favorite on the evening, Curran (6-7). The California resident by way of Hawaii had not fought since her last UFC bout in 2017, which ended a run in which she went 1-6.
Curran came out Friday night looking like she had something to prove. Her opening round matchup against Sunna Davidsdottir featured five minutes of frenetic, back-and-forth action. Curran scored a pair of knockdowns in the bout, and that likely gave her the edge in the narrowest of split decisions. Her semifinal against Sharon Jacobson was an equally tight encounter, and once again, she did just enough to earn the nod via split decision.
As spirited as her efforts on the evening were, though, Curran’s story came to an end in the finals. Van Buren’s relentless grappling held the day in the first round. In the second, Van Buren continued to dominate, and while her first attempt at a choke wasn’t successful, the second one got the job done. Curran tapped at 3:49 as Van Buren, who entered the night with just one career submission victory, got her second of the evening.
The tournament filled a vacancy left when previous champion Virna Jandiroba vacated the belt and moved on to the UFC. Van Buren is the seventh fighter to hold Invicta’s 115-pound crown.
“Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising Series 1” results:
- Brianna Van Buren def. Kailin Curran via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:49 – strawweight tournament final
- Magdalena Sormova def. Kay Hansen via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kailin Curran def. Sharon Jacobson via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9) – strawweight tournament semifinal
- Brianna Van Buren def. Juliana Lima via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9) – strawweight tournament semifinal
- Alyssa Krahn def. Itzel Esquivel via split decision (9-10, 10-9, 10-9) – strawweight tournament reserve bout
- Sharon Jacobson def. Amber Brown via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9) – strawweight tournament quarterfinal
- Brianna Van Buren def. Manjit Kolekar via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:20 – strawweight tournament quarterfinal
- Juliana Lima def. Danielle Taylor vs. split decision (9-10, 10-9, 10-9) – strawweight tournament quarterfinal
- Kailin Curran def. Sunna Davidsdottir via split decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9) – strawweight tournament quarterfinal
For more on “Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising Series 1,” check out the MMA Events section of the site.
