Preview: UFC 253 ‘Adesanya vs. Costa’ Main Card

Women’s Bantamweights

Ketlen Vieira (10-1) vs. Sijara Eubanks (6-4)

ODDS: Vieira (-190), Eubanks (+158)

Eubanks is certainly striking while the iron is hot, as she returns just two weeks after her best win to date at bantamweight. Eubanks made it all the way to the final of the UFC’s tournament to crown its first women’s flyweight champion, but “Sarj” had issues cutting weight and was eventually pulled from the bout. That was essentially the story of her aborted run at 125 pounds. Down 10 pounds, Eubanks had a physicality behind her game that led her to plenty of success, but her troubles with the scale forced her back up to bantamweight. Since then, it has been a struggle. Eubanks has obviously been working on her striking in an attempt to supplement her strong grappling, but working against larger opponents has consistently left her exhausted by the third round. Even her wins had been unconvincing until her last outing—a huge performance in a victory over Julia Avila. It was not exactly a surprise in terms of what Eubanks brought to the table, but it was a strong reminder of the strengths of her game as she outwrestled a much more hyped prospect. She will look to keep the good vibes going against Brazil’s Vieira, who still looms as a dark horse contender at bantamweight despite a loss in her most recent appearance. Vieira’s game is not exactly pretty, but she managed to bully and smother her opponents during her run up the ladder, culminating in a submission win over Sara McMann and a one-sided decision over Cat Zingano. That might have been enough to earn a title fight, but injury issues kept “Fenomeno” out of action for nearly two years until her return against Irene Aldana. That fight looked to be heading in much the same direction until Aldana scored a sudden knockout. Vieira should be able to rebound here. It would not be a shock if Eubanks got off to a strong start, but Vieira’s strength and size mean that she is going to have to work for every inch of an advantage when these two collide. With Eubanks’ history of issues with her gas tank, Vieira should be able to take this over in short order. The pick is Vieira to win a grind of a decision.

Continue Reading » Tukhugov vs. Dawodu