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Preview: UFC 304 Prelims

Bannon vs. Ardelean


Women’s Strawweights

Shauna Bannon (5-1, 0-1 UFC) vs. Alice Ardelean (8-5, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Bannon (-185), Ardelean (+155)

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Strawweights look for their first UFC win in this pairing. Ireland’s Bannon was worth the flier when the UFC picked her up in 2023, though “Mama B” was obviously raw as a mixed martial artist. Only about 15 months into her professional mixed martial arts career at the time, Bannon’s a striker by background who’s more than willing to bite down and go to war. However, her UFC debut against Bruna Brasil didn’t go particularly well, as the Brazilian’s size and ability to grind Bannon out raised some concerns that she might just wind up hitting a physical ceiling with this step up in competition. The next litmus test comes against a Romanian newcomer in Ardelean, who steps up on about two weeks’ notice. More famous for her exploits outside of the cage, Ardelean’s in a similar spot as someone making up for a lack of explosive athleticism with aggression. The beginning of her professional career was fairly rough. Countrywomen Diana Belbita and Cristina Stanciu beat Ardelean on their way to the UFC, and she somehow found herself opposite Weili Zhang in 2016. With that said, she has at least turned the corner in recent years, albeit against a weak level of competition. Ardelean’s wrestling might find her some success here, but Bannon should be able to outpace her over three rounds. The pick is Bannon via decision.

Jump To »
Mokaev vs. Kape
Wood vs. Pineda
McCann vs. Brasil
Loughran vs. Hadley
Parkin vs. Brzeski
Parsons vs. Elliott
Patterson vs. Crosbie
Bannon vs. Ardelean
Bukauskas vs. Prachnio

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