Women’s Bantamweights
Julija Stoliarenko (10-6-2, 1-4 UFC) vs. Chelsea Chandler (4-1, 0-0 UFC)The UFC’s women’s bantamweight division is wide open at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if a newcomer like Chandler can make a dent—even if her debut will be contested at a catchweight of 140 pounds. A Stockton, California, native and a disciple of the Diaz brothers, Chandler has looked solid in her pro career thus far at both bantamweight and featherweight. She is aggressive and packs the requisite level of knockout power, along with some strong grappling. Of course, with these being relatively thin divisions—particularly at the regional level—it is unclear how ready Chandler is for a step up in competition, and Stoliarenko should be a good litmus test. The UFC’s first Lithuanian-born fighter, it took Stoliarenko five fights over two stints with the promotion to finally score her first win inside the Octagon, landing an armbar submission of Jessica-Rose Clark in just 42 seconds in July. While Stoliarenko has put in some obvious improvements to round out her game, her success has still almost entirely relied on her ability to quickly find an armbar. Save for the decision win over Lisa Verzosa that earned Stoliarenko her UFC return in 2020, all of her professional wins have come via first-round armbar. Chandler is a willing grappler who may charge herself right into danger, but she has shown enough chops on the mat to suggest she can ride out things in the early going and separate herself as the much harder hitter over 15 minutes. The pick is Chandler via decision.
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Latifi vs. Oleynik
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Grishin vs. Lins
Stoliarenko vs. Chandler
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