Preview: UFC on ESPN 55 Prelims

Women’s Strawweight2

Ketlen Souza (13-4, 0-1 UFC) vs. Marnic Mann (6-2, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Souza (-345), Mann (+275)

Strawweights look for their first UFC win in this contest at 115 pounds. Souza came into her UFC debut in June with a bit of momentum. Making it stateside after a long layoff, the Brazilian reeled off two wins in Invicta Fighting Championships to wind up as the company’s flyweight queen before getting the late-notice call from the UFC. Souza’s game is not particularly outstanding—there are a lot of flashy single strikes to go along with a grinding wrestling and grappling skills—but she did not get the chance to show much in her first trip to the Octagon, as Karine Silva quickly found a kneebar and finished in a shade under two minutes. Now at strawweight, perhaps things will go better for Souza against Marnic Mann.

Mann got her own late-notice call from the UFC in September. After getting knocked out in a 2022 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, “The Sawed-Off Savage” rebounded with a win on the regional scene ahead of her UFC debut. However, Mann might have some difficulty finding a win in the UFC. As her nickname suggests, she is quite undersized for the division, which makes it difficult for her to implement her preferred grinding style against a high level of competition. That was the story of her UFC debut, where she survived but accomplished little else against Josefine Lindgren Knutsson, and the same figures to happen in this assignment. The pick is Souza via decision.

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