Previously on “Phoenix Rising”, we began telling the story of one of the best female fighters in the world, Tara LaRosa and how she emerged into the world of combat sports. From her struggles with childhood bullies growing up to becoming the top ranked female in MMA, LaRosa detailed her journey exclusively with us and now we will pick up her story where we left off.

Invicta FC is born

LaRosa’s professional record currently stands impressively at 21-2. Her first loss, which was discussed in the previous article, was taken early in her career and she wouldn’t lose again until dropping a very close split decision to her good friend Roxanne Modaferri.

Following the entertaining second bout with Modaferri, LaRosa quickly returned to her winning ways racking up victories over Takayo Hashi, Carina Damm and Kelly Warren before the Invicta Fighting Championship was born.

The ultimate platform for female mixed martial artists had finally arrived but LaRosa wasn’t convinced right off the bat until she learned who would be leading the troops on the frontlines.

“I didn’t really know what to expect [when I first heard about Invicta FC] and I’ve been around for so long that I’ve seen a lot of shows come and go. I was a little hesitant but you couldn’t have gotten a better leader,” LaRosa said.

“Shannon Knapp is the [expletive] and she’s been around for a long time. She’s been involved in the big shows too so I knew that if she was running the show it was probably going to work and it is. Invicta is doing awesome and it is an unbelievable victory for the women’s side of the sport because finally we’re getting recognized.”

The Party starts at Invicta FC 3

With two shows in the books and a third quickly approaching, the MMA community is buzzing about Invicta FC. LaRosa is merely days away from making her organizational debut against Vanessa Porto and is very eager to step in the cage and handle business.

The entire fight card is stacked from top to bottom with intriguing female matchups including an atomweight title main event between Jessica Penne and Naho Sugiyama. LaRosa is stoked for the whole show and the party that will follow.

“Invicta 3 is going to be off the chain and the fights alone are what everyone is going to see and enjoy but you know, the best [expletive] is just going to be being there,” LaRosa said.

“The party beforehand and the party afterward is just going to be ridiculous and a lot of crazy [expletive] is going to happen. It’s always a zoo when we get together because it’s a bunch of chicks that haven’t seen each other in years so this is going to be like a big reunion. There will be whiskey involved.”

Thoughts on Porto matchup

LaRosa’s opponent, Porto is a high level BJJ black belt that is dropping down to 125 lbs following a shocking submission loss to Sarah D’Alelio at Invicta FC 2 in a bantamweight affair. LaRosa was just as surprised as everyone else but doesn’t believe the loss exposed Porto on the ground.

“I was shocked, I knew Sarah was a tough chick but I didn’t see that coming. I didn’t think anybody would be tapping Porto like that. I hope nobody is expecting me to top that because that was pretty awesome,” LaRosa said.

“I don’t think she got exposed at all. Porto is very good on the ground, she got caught and things happen but she’s really fast. I’m not too slow myself and I can scramble pretty well and usually do well in those types of sequences so I’m perfectly happy with it going to the ground if it does.”

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