Marina Rodriguez – Decision (Both Amanda Lemos and Marina Rodriguez eat a hell of a lot of damage, but the former’s plus power is the perfect equaliser to such a problem. Against Michelle Waterson, in fairness to Lemos, she showed improvements to her timing and shot selection on the counter. It’s hard to believe that Lemos’ power and athletic edge will catch Rodriguez early by surprise, however. Rodriguez’s chin is top quality, while her relentless pressure and solid gas tank will likely force Lemos to unravel on the feet by the championship rounds)
Daniel Rodriguez – Decision (The Haitian Sensation is exceptionally well-rounded, smartly using his long frame to dictate fights through his jab on the outside and size in the clinch. Magny’s greatest success has been his ability to adapt deep into fights, but there is a worry that we witnessed the start of a physical slide against Shavkat Rakhmonov. D-Rod is a crafty boxer with exceptional timing and a consistent volume at range, but the test will be whether Rodriguez can handle Magny’s stifling clinch game)
Chase Sherman – TKO Round 2 (The safest call is to back Josh Parisian gritting out a decision over a notoriously fragile fighter in Chase Sherman. Parisian’s wrestling threat is tailor-made to grind out Sherman mentally on the mat, but the former’s lack of any technical skill is too glaring to overlook. Alternatively, you could point towards Sherman’s inability to utilise his power effectively. Who knows, who cares type of fight)
Tagir Ulanbekov – Decision (Nate Maness remains a constant powerful threat throughout a fight, whilst also owning a granite chin to wait for the prime opportunity. Mayhem is also slick in the pocket with surprising pop, but he can be kept at bay on the outside with slick enough footwork and volume. Ulanbekov lacks the athletic gifts of Umar Nurmagomedov, yet his sharp boxing skillset and relentless wrestling are tools that can keep the Dagestani safe from Maness’ greatest weapons)
Grant Dawson – Decision (For all of the wrestling ability of Grant Dawson, the American has fallen in love with his hands over recent years. There’s a fair amount of power to be found, but his boxing still largely clings to Dawson’s plus athleticism rather than any technical points of note. Meanwhile, Madsen offers equally potent wrestling, yet struggles to utilise his mediocre gas tank across the three rounds. Backing Dawson to better stamp his mark on what should be equally contested rounds)
Darrick Minner – Submission Round 1 (Wolverine remains a largely unknown quantity despite nearing over fifty fights under his belt, such is the quality of regional competition in Asia. A solid lay’n’pray wrestler, it is likely safer to back Nuerdanbieke riding out a decision after surviving Minner’s early threat – but the heart is overriding the brain)
Miranda Maverick – Submission Round 1 (The Shanimal is a comedically limited fighter, yet her victory over Gina Mazany spoke to her grittiness and surprising improvement in her TDD. It still feels like Young has not developed her entire game to prevent anything other than a repeat of Maverick’s first-round submission over Young in Invicta back in 2019)
Mario Bautista – Decision (Lopez has been out of the octagon since 2019, owing to injuries, but The Golden Boy is just 28 years old with enough time left to shake off the ring rust. Lopez has never felt comfortable in the clinch, however – an area that Bautista excels. Bautista’s power on the feet should also cause early problems for Lopez too)
Polyana Viana – Decision (Frey really should win this tailor-made stylistic match-up by virtue of laying on top of Polyana Viana. After watching Frey fail to implement such a game plan against Vanessa Demopoulos, the Brazilian has to be considered the favourite based on a willingness to lead the fight alone. Frey is an ageing, blown-up Atomweight giving up too much weight to meet the UFC Strawweight division)
Liudvik Shonlinian – Decision (Munoz Jr is a slick grappler but he lacks the wrestling to brute force his way into his preferred fight. Shonlinian lost his debut emphatically to Jack Shore but proved relatively difficult to takedown as the contest drew on against Shore. The Ukrainian is similarly poor as Munoz Jr on the feet but is a nuisance to shift if he bundles his way to top control)
Jake Hadley – Submission Round 3 (Candelario is a technically limited, gritty scrapper whose reckless abandon creates risk and reward in equal measure. The Brazilian has the explosivity to catch Hadley by surprise on the feet, but as seen against Tatsuro Taira, he can be ground down on the mat. Hadley, hopefully, has learnt a great deal from his naive loss to Allan Nascimento)
Tamires Vidal – TKO Round 2 (UFC debutant, Tamires Vidal, owns the athletic edge over Pascual and a legitimate record. Pascual should have the tools to take Vidal to the mat early and never look back. At such a lowly level of WMMA, however, simple decision-making often isn’t the strong suit)
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