(Somehow we have a feeling that this is not how things went down.) 

I know, I know, we already agreed to stop talking about this. But upon stumbling across the story of Fallon Fox allegedly terrorizing several Invicta fighters backstage at Invicta FC 5, I figured I had to break protocol just this once. Because, regardless of whether you support Fallon Fox’s right to compete in MMA as a woman or not, you should know that when all is said and done, Fox might be a tad bit unstable as a human being. Who saw this coming, amiright?

That is of course, according to Invicta FC strawweight Bec Hyatt, who recently posted the following parable on her Facebook page. As stated by Hyatt, Fox was spotted lurking around the hotel lobby that several Invicta fighters were staying at on the morning of Invicta FC 5, presumably looking for a fight or at the very least, to stir some shit up. I’ll let Becca tell the story:

It’s true that Fallon & I had a “run in” on fight morning in the hotel lobby. Nothing physical, just an unwelcome distraction from my fight later that night. Long story short… I was on my phone Facebook training, as I do, when my husband told me to look up to the second floor balcony. Sure enough I was greeted by Fallon (along with another female fighter??) staring meanie daggers at me & if looks could kill… boy would I be dead LOL!! A Fallon Fox mean mug makes Jasminka Cive’s look child’s play

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It’s a pretty well known fact that UFC heavyweight Pat Barry is a pretty eccentric guy. The same can be said for his girlfriend, Invicta FC strawweight Rose “Thug” Namajunas — in fact, it’s probably what drew them to each other in the first place.

Anyway, Rose recently scored her second professional win via 12-second flying armbar at last weekend’s Invicta FC 5, as you well know. While we were thrilled for her for obvious reasons, our excitement paled in comparison to that of “HD,” who proceeded to jump up from his ringside seat and leap onto the cage like he had just finished stomping a mudhole in Christian Morecraft following Rose’s big win. Thank God there were no small children in his way, or we may very well have witnessed a massacre worse than Cyborg vs. Muxlow that night.

Barry’s (literally) over-the-top celebration should come as no surprise to those of us who have seen him corner Namajunas before, but damn, I just really want what those two have. Not love, I’m talking about brutal knockout power and the ability to pull off flying armbars. I can force someone to love me with those two things.

After the jump: A video of Namajunas’ brilliant submission from Invicta FC 5, because big whoop wanna fightaboutit?

Obligatory.            PicProps: Patrick Walters, CP OG

Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion.  A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts.  The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups.  And it fucking rocked.

The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory.  According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division.  Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety.  She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.

Video streaming by Ustream

Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson kicks off today at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, featuring a horde of female talent including Jessica Penne, Michelle Waterson, Vanessa Porto, Cris Cyborg, Sarah Kaufman, Zoila Frausto Gurgel, Kaitlin Young, Julia Budd, Bec Hyatt, and last but not least, WMMA staredown queen Rose Namajunas. Rose will be kicking off the prelims rocking CagePotato’s familiar Devil’s Horns logo, so don’t be late — purchase your Internet pay-per-view ticket in the streaming player above and throw down your thoughts in the comments section throughout the night.

And one more thing: Our own Doug “ReX13″ Richardson has been allowed into the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City as a member of the media (LOL!), and he’ll be posting additional updates during the show on our twitter page, @cagepotatomma. Don’t miss it.

(Subscribe to CagePotato on YouTube!)

Props to our pal Rose Namajunas and Sucker Punch Entertainment for sending us some behind-the-scenes footage of Thug’s fight-week activities in the days leading up to Invicta FC 5. You will see: Rose working pads with Trevor Wittman. Rose peeling potatoes while wearing the traditional head-wrap favored by grandmothers the world over. Rose on the phone, discussing mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store for the interview that she gave us two days ago. (Dude, I’m on the other end of that phone. Bloooooosh.) And so on. Check it out, and follow Rose on YouTube and Twitter!

After the jump: Rose, Cyborg, Karate Hottie, Jessica Penne, Bec Hyatt, and all the rest will be hitting the scales today for the Invicta FC 5 weigh-ins, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.  Watch the action live in the player below…

(“I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.” / Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello @ WireImage via Getty)

By Ben Goldstein

With her fight against Kathina Catron leading off the Invicta FC 5 prelims this Friday, we called up CP’s favorite (and only!) sponsored fighter Rose Namajunas to get to know the woman a little better. So what did she have to say about pre-fight nerves, Pat Barry, and mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store? Read on and find out. And be sure to follow Rose on twitter @RoseNamajunas for more updates from her life.

CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, who gave you the nickname “Thug”?

Rose Namajunas: My neighborhood friends. When I was little, I was the only white girl, I was smaller than everyone else, and for some reason I just acted harder than everybody else — just fearless, you know? So they kind of dubbed me that because of the intimidating scowl I always had on my face. That’s what gave me that name.

I’ve noticed that scowl before your fights, and even in your weigh-ins. Do you have to get yourself into that Thug-mode — is it a separate persona — or are you that intense all the time?

That’s just one aspect of my personality. I have a playful, fun-loving side, and I also have a very sensitive and emotional side to my personality. But it’s definitely one of the main things that most strangers will pick off of me from a first impression, that I really come off as this intimidating type of person. Like I said, it’s just one aspect of my personality, but I’m always practicing a staredown with strangers. Even going to the grocery store, I might mean-mug somebody just to see if I get a weird feeling from them. It’s practice. And I think that’s one thing that fighters don’t really practice that much, is their intimidation and their mind games, and the intimidating looks that you can give to people. It really can win or lose you the fight if you have that down. Mike Tyson was phenomenal at that game, of intimidating his opponents — he won the fight before it even started.

Has a stranger ever tried to fight you because you were looking at them funny in the grocery store?

(VidProps: @allElbows & @ekc)

While most of you are waiting on a concrete announcement for the main event of UFC on Fuel TV in Sweden 2: Mousasi vs Quick, Somebody Find Me a Viking, you maybe should be talking about this stacked card of fights going down right smack in the middle of the US of A. Featuring a handful of past and present champs, a double main event of championship fights, and the return of Cris Cyborg, Invicta’s fifth show looks like can’t-miss entertainment.

Invicta’s production values have been a consistent strong point, and this latest preview video from Esther Lin and E. Casey Leydon is no exception. It’s beautiful work, and does a fantastic job setting up Friday night’s main event, between Invicta’s Atomweight (105) Champion Jessica Penne and challenger Michelle Waterson.

Highlights:

-  Some of you may remember Jessica Penne from an interview we did with her in August 2010 (I haven’t asked, but I’m pretty sure Penne still hates you assholes), but this is not the same fighter. She looks about ten pounds stronger and ten pounds lighter at the same time.

-  In general, there’s a decent amount of footage of Penne beastin’ all over the gym.

-  Check out Mark Munoz being all proud.

-  While talking about fitting in at the Jackson-Winklejohn camp, Michelle Waterson lets slip that Jackson calls her “peanut”.  Awwwwwwww.  

-  Jon Jones says after a long day of working out, sometimes he likes to cool down and watch the Karate Hottie kick it like Tae Bo. Then he mumbles something about stealing techniques, like that makes it any better.

(selfhighfive.gif, son. Image via Sucker Punch Entertainment)

This is not an April Fool’s Day joke: CagePotato.com will be sponsoring undefeated strawweight Rose Namajunas for her Invicta FC 5 fight against Kathina Catron, this Friday at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, and we’re very, very psyched about it. Check out this first-look at Rose’s sponsor banner, which features our logo in big-ass fashion; she’ll also be sporting it on her gear during the fight.

If you’re not familiar with “Thug Rose“— or only know her as Pat Barry’s abusive girlfriend — stay tuned, because we have some fun interviews and videos coming soon that will help you get to know her a lot better before she kicks off the Invicta 5 IPPV at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT this Friday on Ustream. (Just $9.95, kids! Pre-order now!) In the meantime, follow us after the jump for the most horrifying Harlem Shake video ever recorded, starring you know who. And if you really want to help us out, please follow these folks on twitter: @RoseNamajunas @HypeOrDie @SuckerPunchEnt @BrianButler_Au

(“Oh hey, didn’t see you there. When my doctor first informed me that I would be getting murdered by Cris Cyborg this April, I had lots of questions; Is there anything I can do to prevent getting murdered? Would bringing a friend to the fight help my chances? Why me, God, WHYYYY?!“) 

It has recently been announced that Cris Cyborg’s originally scheduled opponent for her Invicta FC debut on April 5th, Ediane Gomes, has been forced to withdraw from their Invicta FC 5 bout with a rib injury. It’s a real shame, because as someone who used to beat up dudes on the Brazilian underground fight circuit (Fallon Fox’s doppelganger, if you will.*fires invisible pistols*), Gomes was being given more than a snowball’s chance in Hell against Cyborg, a privilege few of her opponents have been able to enjoy.

But now, stepping in on short notice against the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champ will be Fiona Muxlow, a 6-2 grappling specialist out of Queensland, Australia. Originally scheduled to face Julia Budd at the event (who is now awaiting a replacement opponent as of this write up), Muxlow has not competed since dropping a first round armbar to Marloes Coenen at DREAM 18 on New Year’s Eve last year, snapping a three fight win streak in the process.

Although Muxlow is coming off a loss — one she was utterly dominated in at that — and lacks any notable victories, one should look beyond the numbers to see what this woman is truly capable of. For starters, she began her MMA career by submitting three straight opponents in a one night tournament, so we know she’s a finisher and has cardio for days to boot. Secondly, Muxlow has a poker face that will burn a hole right through your soul. That HAS to count for something in this topsy-turvy world, dammit.

Now that Invicta will be implementing “random” drug tests in the near future, does anyone give Muxlow a decent chance against Cyborg, or should we just start prepping the hospital bed?

-J. Jones

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, yet when we stumbled upon this poster for Invicta FC 5 – which goes down on April 5th from Kansas City – we were left with only questions. A few of the most pertinent being:

- At what point during her steroid suspension did Cris Cyborg become the world’s biggest Sons of Anarchy fan? Is Tito the one who convinced her to start emulating Gemma Morrow? [Author's note: I tremble at night thinking what will happen once she stumbles upon Batlestar Galactica.]

- Have DreamWorks and Invicta partnered up? Because the only logical explanation for the amount of Photoshop on this poster is that it is part of a subtle cross-promotion for The Croods. 

- Why does everyone’s stomach look like Earthworm Jim? Also, does anyone have a copy of Earthworm Jim 3D I can borrow?

- Gun to your head: Cris Cyborg or Fallon Fox?

- Gun to Lloyd Irvin’s head…that’s it.

We’d like to get a little poll going in the comments section, Nation. Which promotion’s poster reigns supreme: The sepia-hued disaster above or King of the Cage’s glorious “Fighting Legends” ad?

-J. Jones

Oh, this? It’s just a video of Gomes beating up some random Brazilian guy, no big deal.

Just one week after Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos asked to be released from her UFC contract, the feared Brazilian striker has already found a new home. There was never any doubt as to where Santos would go once leaving the UFC, but yesterday it was announced that Cyborg has officially signed with Invicta FC.

Cyborg will be making her promotional debut at Invicta FC 5 on April 5. Her opponent will be the other scary Brazilian featherweight, Ediane Gomes, who was originally booked to beat the tar out of Julia Budd. Here’s what you need to know about Gomes: She is 10-2 overall, she is riding a four fight win streak, she most recently beat up Hiroko Yamakana in January, and her last loss came by armbar against Ronda Rousey. Oh yeah, and she once beat up a guy in Rio Heroes, yet none of his friends made fun of him for it (see above).

(Thai glamour shot via Michelle Waterson’s Facebook page.)

Not that we don’t appreciate the UFC’s generous one-female-fight-every-couple-months schedule, but in terms of competitive matchups and depth of talent, Invicta FC is still the premiere promotion for women’s MMA. And as long as they can avoid more technical foul-ups this time, Invicta’s fifth card looks like a real corker.

As announced yesterday via press-release, Invicta FC 5 will go down Friday, April 5th at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, featuring two title fights and 12 more bouts featuring a deep roster of well-known contenders. Check out some of the matchup highlights below, and the full event lineup at the end of this post…

Jessica Penne (10-1) vs. Michelle Waterson (10-3), for atomweight championship: Penne won Invicta’s inaugural 105-pound title last October at Invicta 3 with her submission victory over Naho Sugiyama. The Karate Hottie won her Invicta debut at the same event, defeating Lacey Schuckman by split-decision and increasing her total win streak to four.

Barb Honchak (7-2) vs. Vanessa Porto (13-5), for inaugural flyweight championship: Honchak is on a roll with six straight wins — including a decision over Felice Herrig and a submission of Roxanne Modafferi — and has gone 2-0 under the Invicta banner. Porto is coming off her decision win over Tara LaRosa at Invicta FC 3, which followed a loss to Sarah D’Alelio.

Zoila Frausto Gurgel (12-2) vs. Jennifer Maia (6-2): With her Bellator career now in the rear-view mirror, Zoila Gurgel will make her Invicta FC debut in a flyweight bout against Chute Boxe-bred newcomer Jennifer Maia.