“The Savage” has been thriving over her last four fights and, since returning to strawweight on the whole, save for a hiccup against Tabatha Ricci. She’s shown a willingness to utilize ground-and-pound rather than just hunt submissions of late, but also feels like one of those ascending talents in serious need of a marquee win against someone that isn’t calling it a day or who has struggled to crack the Top 10.
Fights like this are fascinating because, depending on how things play out, we could learn a ton about either woman, neither woman, or both women, and the only way to figure that part out is to sit back and see how things unfold. Both have something to prove here, and the delay will hopefully have made them a little antsy to get in there and settle things.
Ion Cutelaba vs Oumar Sy
The light heavyweight division could use an infusion of fresh names to challenge the established set that make up much of the Top 15, and this weekend, Ion Cutelaba is tasked with helping determine whether Oumar Sy could be one of those names.
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I’ve come to think of Cutelaba like a great supporting actor, a real classic “That Guy” like John Carroll Lynch — someone that knows their role, is freakishly consistent, and every so often steals the show, like Lynch did in Zodiac. Cutelaba dropped a split decision last time out, but he’s 3-2 over his past five fights and the kind of frantic, dangerous force that should test Sy in this one.