Invicta FC 26 goes down tonight on UFC Fight Pass. Its co-founder and president Shannon Knapp recently agreed to be the first interview guest for my new podcast Combat Creators, exploring the vision, decisions, and career journey of the people on the business and regulatory side who shape the world of unarmed combat.

On what made her valuable to promotion management early in her career:

“When people figured out that I could connect with athletes, I became a real asset to them on the management side…I used to be a person that would ask a lot ”

On sending her strawweight division to the UFC in Dec. 2013:

“To be able to be part of that, for them to open up that division, and bring those athletes in was very personal and professionally gratifying for me. That’s what I started Invicta to prove and show and open up and have everybody embrace the female side of the sport… Do you know that within the next week I was filled to the rims again?”

On a “terrible” offer from Bjorn Rebney’s Bellator:

“I do not like to be bullied… They tried to bully me, gave some threats and tried to bully me, and I am just not a fan of that.”

On Invicta’s growth and profitability:

“This year has been our best year yet. We still have to watch everything just for the fact that we’re just not losing every show now… We’re definitely not rolling in the dough. As it stands right now, we had a good year last year. It wasn’t incredibly profitable or anything, but we didn’t lose money, so that makes it profitable to me.”

Listen to the full audio of the interview at Forbes SportsMoney and catch Invicta FC 26 tonight at 8pm ET on UFC Fight Pass.