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Women’s Strawweights

NR | Cheyanne Buys (5-2, 0-1 UFC) vs. NR | Gloria de Paula (5-3, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Buys (-170), de Paula (+150)

Two Dana White’s Contender Series alums look to bounce back from disappointing UFC debuts in this one. Brazil’s de Paula was a bit hard to get a read on coming into her debut against Jinh Yu Frey in March, as her resume was somewhat thin prior to her bout on DWCS. She struggled with her more physical and aggressive opponents, so the hope was that her one-sided win over Pauline Macias represented some sort of turning of the corner that would serve de Paula well going forward. Against Frey, there was no such luck. While Frey is one of the more physically powerful entrants at 115 pounds, it was still somewhat disheartening to see de Paula offer little resistance in a grinding loss. She will take on Buys, whose own UFC debut was an exercise in frustration.

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Buys came into the UFC as an obviously raw talent but showed some potential behind a solid striking game and some powerful athleticism. However, she was completely thrown off by the off-kilter approach of Montserrat Ruiz, whose hard-charging style built around head-and-arm throws left Buys struggling to break the cycle. Both women are mostly unproven, so this is a difficult fight to calibrate, but Buys is the slight lean. Her issues with Ruiz seemed to be due more to a lack of experience than a problem of physicality, and de Paula has yet to take over against a stronger athlete. The pick is Buys via decision.

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