Sarah Kaufman to fight Katharina Lehner for vacant bantamweight title at Invicta FC 29

Former women’s Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman will be looking to add some more hardware to the shelf soon.

Kaufman has been booked to fight Katharina Lehner at Invicta FC 29 on May 4 for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight title, officials confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi. A venue has yet to be announced for the card.

The bout was first reported by Bloody Elbow, and both fighters mentioned the encounter on their social media accounts.

The Invicta bantamweight belt was vacated in February, when reigning champion Yana Kunitskaya signed with the UFC to challenge Cris Cyborg for the women’s featherweight title in the main event of UFC 222.

Kaufman (19-4, 1 NC) made a successful return to Invicta in January, winning a lopsided unanimous decision over Pannie Kianzad at Invicta FC 27. It was the second straight win for Kaufman since parting ways with the UFC in 2016.

The 32-year-old Canadian fought four times in the Octagon, going 1-2 with one bout (originally a loss) being overturned to a no-contest when opponent Jessica Eye tested positive for marijuana.

Prior to that, Kaufman fought once for Invicta after a memorable run in the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion. Kaufman won and successfully defended the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship once before dropping it to Marloes Coenen. She would battle her way back to the title before losing to future UFC superstar Ronda Rousey. This will be Kaufman’s first title fight since that August 2012 encounter.

Lehner, 27, is undefeated in seven professional bouts. She won her lone Invicta appearance last August where she defeated Alexa Conners by first-round TKO, and returned to her native Germany later that year to win a unanimous decision over Gemma Pike in the Hype Fighting Championship promotion.