Preview: UFC 205 ‘Alvarez vs. McGregor’

Women’s Bantamweights

Miesha Tate (18-6) vs. Raquel Pennington (8-5)

THE MATCHUP: Not long ago, Tate was in good company as one of a number of road-hardened champs. It did not last long. First, Fabricio Werdum fell and then Rafael dos Anjos. Robbie Lawler followed soon after, all of them suffering dramatic first-round losses. Tate’s fate was the same, and her reputation as the unstoppable workhorse of the women’s bantamweight division took a hit as a result. A bad weight cut and a salvo of crushing right hands from Amanda Nunes did the trick, setting up Tate up for a quick submission finish. With the win, Nunes joined Ronda Rousey as one of just two women to tap out “Cupcake.”

What do you do with a marketable fighter after a disappointing loss? You give her a rebound, of course. Enter Pennington. Now, there are certainly easier fights in the division than “Rocky.” The 28 year-old’s record may be unglamorous, but her three-fight winning streak is no accident. Pennington has taken the hard route to the top of the division, facing killers like Holly Holm, Jessica Andrade and Cat Zingano in the first three years of her professional career. Through all of it, she got better. The Holm fight was close. Then Pennington got her revenge on Andrade just over a year after their first fight. With her last defeat almost two years in the past, she has established herself as a real tough out, if not a serious contender.

Still, Pennington has her problems. She is strong but lacks explosiveness, even by the lax standards of the women’s bantamweight division. Her hands are quick and she knows how to use them, but her feet are quite slow. Frequently, she seems to fight with no sense of strategy whatsoever, rolling with the punches and making it up as she goes along. In the end, Pennington is a true journeywoman. She is a spoiler who makes the good fighters look bad and the bad fighters look worse, but she rarely dominates even the most outmatched opposition.

Tate, on the other hand, is easily one of the best wrestlers in the division. She executes quick shot takedowns and shows great creativity and instinct in the various ways in which she chooses to finish them. Pennington does a good job of feeling out her opponent, but Tate is the division’s master adapter, rarely running into a problem that she cannot figure out a way to solve. Even after the Nunes loss, Tate still deserves respect for her ability to not only absorb punishment but take the right lessons away from it. You can hit Tate the same way twice, but she will usually make you pay for that third try.

THE ODDS: Tate (-180), Pennington (+150)

THE PICK: Like I said, this is a comeback fight for Tate. I am a big Pennington fan, but it is hard to envision her winning this fight. Tate is the better wrestler, the better submission grappler and the better striker, by virtue of her speed, power and adaptability. Pennington is tough enough and skilled enough to make her work and maybe even make her look bad, but this is Tate’s fight to lose. The pick is Tate by unanimous decision.

Last Fights » The Prelims