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Women’s Flyweights

NR | Kay Hansen (7-4, 1-1 UFC) vs. NR | Jasmine Jasudavicius (6-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Hansen (-225), Jasudavicius (+185)

Hansen came to the UFC in 2020 as a strawweight prospect to watch. Just 20 years old at the time, Hansen had already held her own in Invicta Fighting Championships for over two years. That was mostly on the strength of a powerful wrestling and grappling game. Hansen had yet to build out much else in terms of effective offense, so the result was a promising but uneven record that saw her struggle against opponents who could match her physicality. A come-from-behind armbar win over Jinh Yu Frey in her UFC debut was an impressive mark in her favor, but a November 2020 loss to Cory McKenna gave some of those gains back. While most felt Hansen deserved the win, it was still a surprisingly close fight against an opponent who mostly got by on scrappiness rather than any sort of physical gifts. Then Hansen missed all of 2021, revealing late in the year that she was overcoming an eating disorder, among other personal issues. Hansen now appears to be in the best mental space of her career, and with her body in a healthier spot, she also moves up to flyweight, which is an interesting gambit for someone who already had a shorter and stockier frame at 115 pounds. That dynamic only figures to be exacerbated against a UFC newcomer in Jasudavicius who stands out as a particularly long and lanky flyweight. Canada’s Jasudavicius can use that frame to great effect when she chooses to, but she has historically chosen to pressure and overwhelm her opponents, often pursuing a wrestling and grappling game of her own. When Jasudavicius gets going, as she did in her Dana White’s Contender Series win over Julia Polastri in September, it is impressive to watch, although her clinch and wrestling exchanges can sometimes be a bit dicey for someone who, all else being equal, looks to prefer to have the fight there. If this fight stays on the feet, Jasudavicius figures to be the much more effective striker even if neither woman has much in the way of defense. However, given that both prefer to take it to the mat, this should be a relatively even fight—a lot of which hinges on how Hansen fills out and feels at 125 pounds, particularly against such a physically large opponent. The pick is that Hansen can grind out a decision win, but this is one of the more difficult calls on the card.