Former Invicta Champ Jessica Penne Not Worried About Title Shots, Just Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc

Looking back on her Invicta FC atomweight title loss to Michelle Waterson in April, Jessica Penne feels it was a mistake to even accept the fight given her circumstances heading into the bout.

“In all honesty, I should have not taken the last fight,” she said. “I was not able to train the way I normally train for a fight. I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be going into that fight and it showed.

“I’m a competitor and I don’t believe in backing out of fights, however, I will in the future if I’m unable to train for a fight. I let my competitiveness and my pride get in the way and I didn’t want to back out of the fight… and I needed the money. All those things add up. I would have done things differently if I were given another chance.”

Even with the loss, Penne (10-2) chooses to look at the positives of the situation.

“I do have a lot of confidence from it because not being able to prepare as much as I should have, I did pretty well in that fight,” she said. “I got caught. (Waterson) got lucky for it and now I’m ready to work my way back.”

Penne will get her first opportunity to try to get back to title contention this Saturday night in Kansas City, as she takes on veteran Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc (8-6) live on the Invicta FC 6 PPV.

“I’m just going to go out there and have fun,” Penne said. “I’m not going to hold anything back. I put pressure on myself as much as it is and that’s not the best way to go in there. I have to go in there with an open mind, feel it out and make adjustments as it goes along and just take it as it comes.

“I’ll go in there and feel her out, see what she gives me and see what I can make happen.”

Penne told MMAWeekly.com that she’s focused on Saturday night, having faith in Invicta to know when the time is right for her to get an opportunity to reclaim her title.

“Whatever happens, happens, but I think things happen for a reason,” she said. “If they think I’ve earned it after this one or if they think I need to wait a little bit, I’ll take whatever I get.”