Tiffany Van Soest gets opponent for MMA debut, Invicta FC 19 card finalized
Tiffany Van Soest finally has a dance partner for her mixed martial arts debut. The champion kickboxer and top-ranked Muay Thai fighter will face fellow rookie Kalyn Schwartz on Sept. 23 at Invicta FC 19, the promotion announced Tuesday.
Van Soest (0-0) is widely regarded as one of the best female stand-up artists in the world. A former Lion Fight super bantamweight and featherweight champion, the 27-year-old American also holds a karate black belt and captured the WBC Muay Thai international super bantamweight title. She will compete in the strawweight division in MMA and has trained for several years alongside UFC fighters Carla Esparza and Jessica Penne.
"It finally just got to a point where I'm like, you know what, I've got to at least give it a shot," Van Soest explained recently on The MMA Hour. "I'm young enough, I've got the skills enough, I've got the resources. I don't want to think ‘what if.' I don't want to spend my whole life wondering, ‘what if I did do MMA?' So I felt like I won a few titles in Muay Thai in two different weight classes. I felt like I've done a lot for the sport, done a lot for myself. I'm proud of what I've done in Muay Thai, and so I figured why not pursue something else? Why not give it a shot?"
In Schwartz (0-0), Van Soest will meet a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who counted six victories to her credit over her amateur career.
Invicta FC 19 takes place at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, MO. The event will stream live on UFC Fight Pass.
The addition of Van Soest vs. Schwartz rounds out an eight-fight card. Invicta FC 19 is headlined by two title fights, as Jennifer Maia takes on Roxanne Modafferi for the interim flyweight title in the night's main event, and Ayaka Hamasaki looks to defend her atomweight belt against top prospect Jinh Yu Frey in the co-main event.
A finalized Invicta FC 19 fight card can be seen below.
- Interim Flyweight Title: Jennifer Maia (13-4-1) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (19-12)
- Atomweight Title: Ayaka Hamasaki (13-1) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (5-1)
- Bantamweight: Irene Aldana (5-2) vs. Faith Van Duin (6-2)
- Strawweight: Manjit Kolekar (8-0) vs. Kaline Medeiros (7-4)
- Strawweight: Tiffany Van Soest (0-0) vs. Kalyn Schwartz (0-0)
- Atomweight: Julia Jones (4-0) vs. Stephanie Skinner (4-5)
- Featherweight: Amber Leibrock (1-1) vs. Amy Coleman (2-0)
- Strawweight: Ashley Greenway (1-0) vs. Sunna Rannveig Davidsdottir (0-0)