Die-hard MMA fanatics will not have to take a week off from betting fights in between UFC events, as the Invicta Fighting Championships will be streaming their entire second event free on Saturday from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas at www.InvictaFC.com beginning at 6 p.m. (ET). MMA bettors will get to watch 14 bouts between 28 women fighters and have the opportunity to wager on nearly half of them at Several Bookmakers. Six of the fights have odds posted on them, and the main event features an up-and-coming star in former Olympian Sara McMann against a former Strikeforce contender in Shayna Baszler. McMann earned a silver medal in women’s wrestling at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and has drawn some comparisons to another former Olympian – Ronda Rousey – due to her quick rise over the past year and unbeaten record at 5-0. Rousey has also started out her career at 5-0 but has proven to be a more of a dominating submission specialist who has finished all of her opponents in the first round while the 31-year-old McMann has a pair of subs, a TKO and a couple unanimous decisions to her credit. Baszler is the same age but a true veteran of the sport at 14-6 after starting her pro career back in 2003. She is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has won her last four bouts since suffering back-to-back losses to Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Sarah Kaufman in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The 31-year-old South Dakota native is coming off consecutive first-round submission wins against Adrienna Jenkins (armbar) and Elaina Maxwell (kneebar) and also beat another fighter on this card during her winning streak in Alexis Davis. Baszler is a big +275 underdog (bet $100 to win $275) against McMann, who is a huge -425 favorite (bet $425 to win $100). Davis is favored at -170 in her matchup with Japanese fighter Hitomi Akano (+140) in the co-main event. The 27-year-old Canadian from Ontario lost to Kaufman by majority decision in her last bout on March 3. She had won three in a row prior to that loss, and her last three fights have taken place in Strikeforce. Davis is 11-5 overall with five wins coming via submission, two by knockout and four by decision. The 37-year-old Akano has fought some top competitors as well en route to an 18-9 record with notable losses coming against McMann (unanimous decision) and Santos (third-round TKO). She has submitted 14 opponents among her 18 wins with the others coming by decision. Eight of Akano’s nine losses have been decisions in her opponent’s favor, the exception being her fight against Santos. Following are the complete opening MMA odds for Saturday’s Invicta FC 2 card… SHAYNA BASZLER +275 SARA MCMANN -425 HITOMI AKANO +140 ALEXIS DAVIS -170 KAITLIN YOUNG +325 LIZ CARMOUCHE -525 LACEY SCHUCKMAN +325 AKAYA HAMASAKI -525 RAQUEL PA’ ALUHI +300 AMANDA NUNES -500 SARAH D’ ALELIO +185 VANESSA PORTO -255
