Preview: UFC 265 Prelims

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Women’s Flyweights

NR | Victoria Leonardo (8-3, 0-1 UFC) vs. NR | Melissa Gatto (6-0-2, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Leonardo (-110), Gatto (-110)

All the hype was behind Chelsea Hackett heading into her Dana White’s Contender Series bout opposite Leonardo in 2020, but it was the latter who walked away with the victory, plowing through and eventually scoring a second-round finish on the ground. Effort is the name of the game for Leonardo, who can do a bit of everything and makes up for a lack of high-level athleticism with pressure and determination. That has worked well enough for most of her career and got her the win—and a UFC contract—against Hackett, but her proper Octagon debut saw her run into a clear physical wall against Manon Fiorot, one of the most physically impressive prospects at 125 pounds. Leonardo should get a more forgiving matchup here against Brazil’s Gatto, who looks set to make her UFC debut after over two years of false starts.

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Gatto was initially tabbed to make her debut at UFC 237 in May 2019 before various injuries and USADA issues got in the way. It will be interesting to see how she looks compared to her last fight, a submission win over Karol Rosa in September 2018. Frankly, despite her undefeated record and that victory over Rosa aging quite well, Gatto did not show much during her pre-UFC career. Her striking is wild, and a lot of her fights saw her get overwhelmed or controlled while doing little but hunting for submissions. That could still work here, particularly factoring in that Gatto has had three years to improve and, at the very least, shore up the absolute worst parts of her game. While Gatto did not look like much of an athlete during her career thus far, this fight will see her cut down from bantamweight to flyweight, so there is the potential that her physical gifts could pop a bit more in a smaller weight class. A Gatto win would not be a shock, but there is also no reason to favor her against Leonardo given what each woman has shown thus far. The pick is Leonardo via decision.

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