Invicta FC Phoenix Rising results: Brianna Van Buren wins strawweight tournament, becomes champion

Brianna Van Buren has Invicta FC strawweight gold around her waist.

The 25-year-old fighter picked up three straight wins on Friday night to conquer the eight-woman Invicta FC strawweight tournament, which was set to crown its new 115-pound champion.

It was all dominance from Van Buren’s part throughout her run in the tournament. In the one-round quarterfinal, Van Buren power-doubled Manjit Kolekar and submitted her with an armbar after landing some solid ground-and-pound for a couple of minutes. Her semifinal win over Juliana Lima was very similar to her quarterfinal performance with exception of the armbar finish. Van Buren took down Lima early and controlled her for the entirety of the one-round bout.

In the final, Van Buren took on former UFC fighter Kailin Curran, who defeated Sharon Jacobson and Sunna Davíðsdóttir to get to the final. “The Bull” ran through Curran in round one with a double leg takedown and controlled her for the majority of the round, landing ground-and-pound while keeping tight control on top. Round two was the same story, but this time Van Buren secured back mount and shortly the rear-naked choke.

The Invicta FC strawweight champ is now 8-2 in her professional fighting career and currently finds herself on a five-fight win streak.

Additionally, two veteran fighters had successful Invicta FC debuts.

In the co-main event bout, Magdaléna Šormová won a split decision over 19-year-old Kay Hansen. It was a close fight, but after likely dropping the first round, Šormová implemented dominant top control in rounds two and three to get the decision. The victory improved the Czech fighter’s record to 9-1.

Alyssa Krahn also outpointed her younger opponent, 22-year-old Itzel Esquivel. It was a one-round fight, as it served as the a reserve bout for the strawweight tournament. “Pumpkin Spice” was able to secure and early takedown and survive Esquivel’s several submission attempts from guard, Krahn is now 6-2 in her professional MMA career.

See full Invicta FC Phoenix Rising results here.