Is Brianna Van Buren the real deal?
Those who tuned into Invicta Phoenix Series 1 on May 3, 2019 caught a tour de force performance byAmerican Kickboxing Academy’s [autotag]Brianna Van Buren[/autotag]. In an eight-woman tournament, Van Buren (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) won a pair of one-round early fights, including a decision over Julianna Lima, then submitted veteran Kailin Curran in the second round of the finals to become Invicta strawweight champ.
BVB then went on to the UFC and once again made waves as she stymied a legit contender in Renata Livia Souza and earned a decision to end her four-fight winning streak.
All these signs seem to indicate Van Buren is legit. But you don’t really know if you’ll make it in the UFC’s deepest women’s weight class unless you can get past the always tough [autotag]Tecia Torres[/autotag]. Torres (10-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has lost four straight, but they’ve all gone the distance, and three of the four — Zhang Weili, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and Jessica Andrade — have all held the championship. A win against a fighter who will no doubt be determined to prove she’s still relevant would be the clearest signal yet that Van Buren is on her way to big things.
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