Mizuki Inoue steps in for Janaisa Morandin, faces Virna Jandiroba for title at Invicta 28

The title will still be on the line, but there will be one new participant for the belt at

Mizuki Inoue will step in for Janaisa Morandin to take on Virna Jandiroba for the Invicta FC strawweight title in the main event of Invicta 28 on March 24 in Salt Lake City, the promotion announced Friday. Morandin’s issue was undisclosed. Inoue was supposed to face Milana Dudieva at the event and Invicta is currently looking for an opponent for Dudieva.

Morandin told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz that she recently had a wisdom tooth infection and it had to be removed. She did some training while on medication, but the stitches popped out and she got another infection. That repeated issues rendered it impossible to train properly for the title fight.

Janaisa told me she had a wisdom tooth infection and had to remove it. She spent some time training while on medication, but stitches popped out and she had another infection, so it wasn’t possible to properly train for a title fight.

Inoue (12-4) has not fought since beating Lynn Alvarez at Invicta 18 in July 2016 due to knee surgery. The Japanese fighter is currently riding a four-fight winning streak with the last three victories coming by submission. Inoue, still just 23 years old, was supposed to fight Morandin at Invicta 26 in December, but withdrew due to injury.

Jandiroba (12-0) is coming off a first-round submission victory over Amy Montenegro at Invicta 26. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist has won nine of her 12 fights by submission. Jandiroba, 29, fought her entire career in her native Brazil before her Invicta debut in December.

Invicta 28 will take place at Union Event Center in Salt Lake and will air live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card, Ultimate Fighter alum DeAnna Bennett takes on Karina Rodriguez and UFC veteran Peal Gonzalez faces Kali Robbins.