Women’s Strawweights
Virna Jandiroba (14-1, -280) vs. Mallory Martin (6-2, +240): It came together late, as Mallory Martin marks Jandiroba’s third opponent for this card, but this should still be a fun scrap between former Invicta standouts. Jandiroba was quietly effective throughout an Invicta campaign that saw her become strawweight champion, as everything flowed into her strong top game, where the Brazilian managed to uncork either a submission or some surprisingly effective ground-and-pound. A lot of that is also true for Martin, particularly the part about the ground-and-pound. While Martin was picked up by the UFC before she could get the chance at Invicta gold, she has gained some notoriety for her willingness to taunt her opponents while taking them down and smashing them. The Denver native did not get a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series after a lukewarm win over Micol DiSegni, but after one more victory, she got the late-notice call. This is the type of fight that looks even on paper but could be one-sided in practice, since it should come down to who can get top position first. Jandiroba showed some cause for concern in her last fight against Carla Esparza; her loopier striking leaves her open for takedowns, and she at times showed a willingness to hunt for submissions from her back. Part of that equation is that Esparza is one of the best wrestlers at strawweight, while Martin has not faced nearly that level of a test to expose her weaknesses. The call is to pick Jandiroba via decision as the more proven fighter, but the margin is razor-thin.Light Heavyweights
Makhmud Muradov (23-6, -410) vs. Trevor Smith (15-9, +330): Two middleweights make the move up to 205 pounds for an interesting opener to this card. Smith’s jump to light heavyweight is not particularly surprising, given that the Washington native started his career in the division. It is an interesting gambit, however. Smith was an absolutely glacial grinder down at 185 pounds, so it is understandable that he would want to face slower opposition. With that said, it will be interesting to see how well he can control larger opponents. As for Muradov, his move up a division may just be a one-off due to his taking this fight on late notice. If anything, there was discussion that the career middleweight wanted to cut down to welterweight rather than head to 205 pounds. The UFC’s lone representative from Uzbekistan, Muradov had an impressive debut picking apart Alessio Di Chirico in September, and he should be able to do much the same here. There are some concerns for Muradov. His overconfidence on the feet will probably get him cracked at some point and his wrestling is still unproven, but Smith is simply too slow to make much of that matter. The pick is Muradov via second-round knockout.Related Articles
