Preview: UFC Houston Prelims

Women’s Bantamweights

Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards

BETTING ODDS: Edwards (-325); Cornolle (+250)

It’s a rematch that nobody seemed to be clamoring for, but Cornolle (9-3; 3-2 UFC) will look to prove that her 2023 win over Edwards (16-6; 7-4 UFC) was no fluke. Cornolle joined the UFC a few years ago as part of the influx of French talent, and has settled into a role as a reliable fringe contender in the thin bantamweight division. Despite her kickboxing background, Cornolle is not an overwhelming MMA striker. She is big for the division and throws a wide variety of kicks and punches with solid technique, but her hand and foot speed are both poor and her power is average. She is, however, becoming increasingly hard to deal with in the clinch, where her height and strength serve her well, and she delivers punishing knee and elbow strikes.

Edwards is far from a perfect fighter—or even a complete one—but she has been improving steadily. The 30-year-old Panamanian is a kickboxer as well, and has always thrown ample volume, and had good power, especially in her kicks, but was hampered early on by some of the worst takedown defense in the entire UFC. “Pantera” turned a corner last year, graduating from promising also-ran into Sherdog’s 2025 Ms. Violence, and it came down partly to the right opponents, but also to improving her defensive wrestling enough that she could bring her offensive firepower to bear. The improvements have been in her footwork; her sprawl is still nothing to write home about, but she understands that the best takedown defense is simply not being there.

These two fought just over two years ago, Cornolle won in a competitive but uncontroversial decision, and yet Edwards is a greater than 3-to-1 favorite in the rematch. That reflects a perception that Edwards has improved greatly since September 2023 while Cornolle has stagnated, and it’s a take with which I agree. Edwards is a more dangerous striker in open space than Cornolle, and Cornolle might have a hard time corralling the younger, faster woman against the cage or hauling her to the canvas. The pick is Edwards by clear decision.

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