Leslie Smith drops to 125, meets Jennifer Maia in Invicta FC 6 title eliminator

Leslie Smith (5-3-1) has signed a multi-fight deal with Invicta FC, will drop from bantamweight to flyweight, and fight Jennifer Maia (7-2-1) in a title eliminator at Invicta FC 6.

Officials today announced the fight and the new contract, though terms of the exclusive deal were not disclosed.

Invicta FC 6 takes place July 13 at Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Mo. It’s expected to be available via online pay-per-view.

The Smith-Maia winner will meet recently crowned 125-pound champion Barb Honchak later this year.

Smith has picked up “Fight of the Night” awards in her past two Invicta bouts, which included a unanimous-decision win over Raquel Pennington and a razor-thin split-decision defeat to former Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman. The 30-year-old Californian now meets Maia, who made her Invicta debut this past month and defeated former Bellator champ Zoila Frausto Gurgel via unanimous decision. It moved the 24-year-old Brazilian to 3-1 in her past four fights.

The full Invicta FC 6 card includes:

MAIN CARD (Online PPV, 10 p.m. ET)

• Marloes Coenen vs. Cristiane Santos – for inaugural featherweight title
• Champ Carla Esparza vs. Ayaka Hamasaki – for strawweight title
• Sarah D’Alelio vs. Lauren Taylor
• Jennifer Maia vs. Leslie Smith
• Jessica Penne vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc
• Joanne Calderwood vs. Claudia Gadelha
• Julia Budd vs. Ediane Gomes
• Bec Hyatt vs. Mizuki Inoue
• Miriam Nakamoto vs. Duda Yankovich

PRELIMINARY CARD (Online PPV, 8 p.m. ET)

• Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres
• Ashley Cummins vs. Emily Kagan
• Mollie Estes vs. Veronica Rothenhausler
• Laura Sanko vs. Livia Von Plettenberg

For the latest on Invicta FC 6, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Team Leslie Smith)