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 . Watch the tournament highlights in the video above to see Van Buren’s journey to the title. “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.
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