Preview: UFC 269 Prelims

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Women’s Flyweights

NR | Miranda Maverick (9-3, 2-1 UFC) vs. NR | Erin Blanchfield (7-1, 1-0 UFC)

ODDS: Maverick (-135), Blanchfield (+115)

Two of the brighter prospects in the UFC's women’s flyweight division square off in this encounter. Maverick came into the UFC with some hype in 2020 and lived up to it through two Octagon appearances. She is an obvious tank of an athlete who came in having relied on a powerful wrestling game, but wins over Liana Jojua and Gillian Robertson saw her show a basic but promising striking game as she coasted to victory. Her July battle against Maycee Barber was more of a mixed bag, however. While Barber’s win was frankly undeserved, Maverick did have issues down the stretch against someone who could match her persistence and athleticism, enough so that her Team Alpha Male-trained adversary managed to steal the win. That sets the table for an interesting bout here. At 24 years old, Maverick finds herself in the role of old veteran against a 22-year-old top prospect in Blanchfield. Coming from a grappling background, Blanchfield has some obvious talent between that submission ability and some powerful striking, though she is only now starting to channel that into something consistent. Her lone loss thus far to Tracy Cortez saw her too willing to waste time hunting for submissions from her back, and a lot of Blanchfield’s victories have felt somewhat formless. That is why it was a pleasant surprise to see her lay an absolute beating on Sarah Alpar in her UFC debut in September. If Blanchfield can bring 15 minutes of control and aggression, she has as high a ceiling as anyone in this division. Maverick is the more proven entity, but this could be a surprisingly close fight. Blanchfield will actually be the larger competitor in this showdown between two women with compact frames, and for all of Maverick’s physical strength, some of her fights—most recently against Robertson—have seen opponents take the initiative and find success taking her to the mat. Still, Maverick seems like the more trustworthy choice. While there are holes in her game that Blanchfield can exploit, she has yet to fully separate herself against a better athlete, and the Cortez loss raises some worry that she will not be aggressive enough if this goes to the mat. This could be where Blanchfield turns another corner, but the pick is Maverick via decision.

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