Women’s Bantamweights
Mayra Bueno Silva (8-2-1, 3-2-1 UFC) vs. Stephanie Egger (7-2, 2-1 UFC)This has the potential to be an entertaining mess, which is true of most Silva fights. Brazil’s “Sheetara” does have some legitimate skill, particularly as a grappler, but getting her fights there is typically an adventure if it happens. All else being equal, Silva is content to keep marching forward and winging strikes hoping for a knockout that rarely ever comes. Silva is dogged and powerful enough that she is a tough force to meet head-on, but she is also clearly beatable, whether it is an opponent who is able to overpower her or someone smart enough to just outmaneuver her rather one-dimensional pressure. After an October loss to Manon Fiorot at flyweight, Silva moved up to 135 pounds for an April win over Yanan Wu and could make some headway in her new division, making this bout against Egger a sneakily important fight. Coming into the UFC in 2020, Switzerland’s Egger looked like a fairly one-dimensional threat, banking on her judo skill to see her through some clinch and wrestling exchanges on her way to attempts at submissions. That is still mostly true, but what turned into a showcase win over Shanna Young in late 2021 did raise some hope that Egger might be rounding out her game and finding some comfort as a striker. Her February win over Jessica-Rose Clark was the biggest of Egger’s career, but it did not answer many questions in terms of her well-roundedness. Clark just decided to keep testing Egger’s wrestling and grappling skill until Egger was able to find an armbar. This could go any manner of directions, as Egger is likely to hunt for takedowns and some judo throws. It is unclear where things go from there. Egger having the initiative is a huge advantage, but that also plays into the best parts of Silva’s game as a slick submission threat. There is also the off chance that Egger, cognizant of the submission threat, looks to bang this out in a fight that would then surely turn into an absolute mess, with Silva being powerful but not particularly technical and the Swiss export not having much comfort on the feet. The bet is that this turns into a grappling match and a bit of a stalemate with neither woman being able to put the other away. Given that Egger looks to be the one hunting for advantageous positions on the mat and the physically stronger force, she gets the nod in what is essentially a coinflip. A submission on either side would not be a surprise, but the pick is Egger via decision.
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Oleksiejczuk vs. Alvey
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McKenna vs. Granger
Silva vs. Egger