Preview: UFC on ESPN 55 Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

Ivana Petrovic (6-1, 0-1 UFC) vs. Na Liang (19-7, 0-3 UFC)

ODDS: Petrovic (-550), Liang (+410)

Liang should at least make this flyweight affair entertaining. That has been the story for “Dragon Girl” in her three trips to the Octagon thus far. The Chinese fighter tends to sell out on aggression early on, looking to quickly take her opponents down and hunt for a submission. Unfortunately for her, that has not worked particularly well, either at strawweight or flyweight. Liang is not a particularly physical fighter and has a bad tendency to burn herself out while hunting for that finish. Even in a more patient form against J.J. Aldrich in 2023, things wound up at the same spot for Liang: a few minutes of chaos before losing via finish.

Petrovic is the next opponent to step up and try to continue Liang’s skid, as she is looking to rebound from a disappointing UFC debut in July. Petrovic’s regional success made her worth the flier for the UFC, even if her fights themselves were not particularly outstanding. Massive but slow for the flyweight division, Petrovic’s fights usually saw her outlast flawed competition over multiple rounds, scoring a few late finishes but looking more consistent than inspiring. She got stalled out in her UFC debut against Luana Carolina, as Petrovic struggled against a rare opponent with some size parity, but there are some tools to work with that should lead to her improving down the line. Petrovic can grapple, so she should be able to last the requisite few minutes to score a win over Liang. The pick is Petrovic via second-round stoppage.

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