Women’s Strawweights
Konklak Suphisara (4-2) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (9-5)If nothing else, it is nice to see the UFC match two natural atomweights together so they can actually fight someone their own size. Suphisara is the UFC’s first fighter out of Thailand, and, as one would expect, she comes from a muay Thai background. Obviously, those parts of her game are well-honed by this point, and she has done a solid job of rounding out everything else, even if she is still quite raw from a mixed martial arts standpoint. Her UFC debut—a win over Aleksandra Albu—was promising in that “Loma Lookboonmee” managed to deal with a much stronger opponent, and while a February loss to Angela Hill was seen as a setback, the latter’s success since has only made that defeat look better in retrospect. Suphisara will take on a former Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight titleholder in Frey, who is looking to bounce back from a loss to Kay Hansen in her UFC debut in June. For all her success, Frey seems to walk a fine line on her path to victory. She is a powerful athlete for her size, but she leverages that into a low-output style that relies on bursts of offense and a controlling wrestling game. That wrestling should be the key, as “Loma Lookboonmee” should be able to make up any power differential with volume and technique on the feet. It is a coinflip as to who is going to win that battle, but Suphisara has the much more trustworthy style to win rounds. The pick is Suphisara via decision.
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