Janaisa Morandin’s path to proving she’s one of the best includes winning Invicta FC title

Janaisa Morandin seeks her first victory under the Invicta FC banner on Friday’s fight card in Kansas City, and that’s like the start of a new career for her.

Morandin was originally slated to debut in the company in an atomweight bout with Jinh Yu Frey in March, but was removed from after badly missing weight. She returned to action five months later, facing former strawweight champion Livia Renata Souza on short notice, but lost a decision.

“I was coming from the atomweight division and put on a good fight against a former champion at 115,” Morandin told MMA Fighting. “I think I did my job well. After this fight, I started to believe more in myself. I showed Invicta that I fight with love and that I’m here to stay.

“I took that fight on 20 days’ notice. It was a tough fight. Your first defeat changes your head a lot. I had never lost before in MMA, so I became way more mature. A loss is only a loss if you don’t learn anything with it, and I’ve learned a lot.”

The 23-year-old talent doesn’t believe she can make 105 pounds anymore, so her future is at strawweight.

“I’m coming for the belt,” she said. “I know I have what it takes to become one of the best, and you will see that every time I fight. I want to prove that I can become the strawweight champion.”

“Evil Princess” was initially booked to meet former DEEP champion Mizuki Inoue at Friday’s event, but will now take on fellow Brazilian Kinberly Novaes — Novaes came in at 121.8 pounds for the strawweight bout, and was fined 25 percent of her purse.

“That’s a change that affects my game plan because I was getting ready for a grappler and now I’m fighting a striker,” said Morandin, who sees benefits in the change. “It changed my preparation entirely, training and strategy, but it’s actually an advantage for me because it’s my game. I like to strike, so the best striker will win. That’s the type of opponent I like to face.”

Although it’s a good change style-wise, Morandin believes that a win over Novaes means less ranking-wise.

“I was getting ready for Mizuki, a top 10 in the division, and a win over her would bring me more, but Kinberly is also very experienced,” she said. “We’re both coming off losses and are hungry to win, and since we’re both strikers I believe we can put on the fight of the night one more time. I’m ready wherever the fight goes. My goal is to get the knockout, always.”