Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight champion Katja Kankaanpaa will seek her first title defense against Livia Souza on April 24 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Invicta FC officials confirmed the date and location to ESPN.com on Thursday. The event, Invicta FC 12, will take place at Municipal Auditorium and air on the UFC's Internet subscription service, Fight Pass.
Shannon Knapp, president of Invicta FC, had originally announced the event would take place on April 10, but the card was ultimately booked to April 24. The promotion will return to Kansas City, the site of its home base of operations, for the first time since Invicta FC 8 in September.
Kankaanpaa (10-1-1) won the 115-pound title at Invicta FC 8, submitting Stephanie Eggink at 2:03 of the fifth round. The Finnish champion has recorded finishes in five of her 10 professional wins, including four via submission.
She will face an undefeated foe in Souza (7-0), who is set to make her promotional debut. The 24-year-old Brazilian has gone the distance only once as a professional and is coming off a 47-second submission win in her last fight.
In late 2013, the UFC purchased the contracts of 11 of Invicta FC's strawweight fighters, including its reigning champion, Carla Esparza. Esparza (10-3) went on to become the inaugural UFC strawweight champion in December. The title remained vacant until Kankaanpaa claimed it in September.
