Preview: UFC 216 ‘Ferguson vs. Lee’

Women’s Flyweights

Kalindra Faria (18-5-1) vs. Mara Romero Borella (11-4)

ODDS: Faria (-210), Romero Borella (+175)

ANALYSIS: When the Jessica Eye-Paige VanZant bout fell apart due to the latter’s back injury and the UFC decided Mark Godbeer and Walt Harris were not allowed to have their pay-per-view main card spot back, there was only one option: Broadcast a fight in an embryonic weight division between two women most hardcore fans have not even seen compete.

Jokes aside, while Faria-Borella may not deserve a main-card slot, the bout does have a legitimate value. We are less than two months away from the promotion crowning its first 125-pound queen at “The Ultimate Fighter 26” Finale on Dec. 1, and there is presently a need to snap up talent so Bellator MMA cannot stockpile its own developing division and expose fans to the largely anonymous talent in what may be MMA’s most anonymous weight class. Better still, both competitors cut uniquely to the fundamental question facing the women’s flyweight division right now: Which fighters are actually the best?

The 31-year-old Faria has spent most of her nearly nine-year career awkwardly bouncing between 115 and 135 pounds, all while developing a reputation as a fighter that always fell short against the best competition she faced. She lost to Carina Damm in their first meeting, while also losing to Claudia Gadelha, Vanessa Porto, Jessica Aguilar and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. The closest she has come to winning “the big one” was in her draw with Jennifer Maia, now the top flyweight in the world, back in November 2010. She has won three in a row since the razor-thin loss to Kowalkiewicz in KSW back in February 2015, and in her last outing, Faria recorded the biggest win of her career by avenging the Damm loss at 135 pounds, outgunning the “Barbie Doll” over 25 minutes to win the Titan Fighting Championship title.

In the Damm rematch, Faria showed her best form to date despite fighting 10 pounds above her ideal weight class. She is still a Brazilian muay Thai and jiu-jitsu stereotype, right down to her Chute Boxe Diego Lima and Macaco Gold Team affiliation. Her stance is rigid and upright; she kicks low and hard; and when she throws leather, it is with both hands flying in chain-gun battery. She excels in the clinch, where she is a quality takedown defender and often can reverse opponents to take top position for herself. Faria is not the most dynamite grappler you will find, but she is more than competent on top or bottom; she can pass and pound, sweep and submit. In her win over Damm, all of these facets were on display and Faria strung together each sequence brilliantly for five rounds.

Borella, also 31, is a complete surprise, bursting into relevance from nowhere. Until recently, her only notable performance against quality opposition came in a May 2016 fight with Lena Ovchynnikova in which she was positively cheated out of a win by her Ukrainian opponent’s local promoter. Two wins against middling opposition later, the Italian improbably ended up in the Invicta Fighting Championships 24 main event in June due to the Megan Anderson-Tonya Evinger-Helena Kolesnyk booking drama. There, she took a well-deserved split decision over UFC vet Milana Dudieva. The Dudieva win came as a direct result of the quick improvements she has shown working at American Top Team. Her ho-hum striking is now stronger on account of a distance kicking attack and a sharper right cross. She is more composed and wastes less energy going for takedowns in the clinch, allowing her to utilize her best skills, guard passing and ground-and-pounding to open up submission opportunities.

Borella is not going to get to start the bout on top of Faria, however, and that is an issue. All of Borella’s takedowns come from the clinch, a position in which Faria is bigger, stronger, craftier and more dangerous. On the inside, the Brazilian can hit her with punches and knees or cleverly sweep out her feet, as she often does. That is assuming that “Kunoichici” can even close the distance on Faria, who should be able to rip Borella with heaters when she rushes inside. Settling into her legitimate weight class, Faria wins a unanimous decision and takes a step out of the long, cold shadows cast by the women who have previously beaten her and gone onto greatness.

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