Preview: UFC Fight Night 214 Prelims

Women’s Bantamweights

Tamires Vidal (6-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Ramona Pascual (6-4, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Vidal (-140), Pascual (+120)

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Assuming she can make the weight, it will be interesting to see if Pascual can make some hay in a wide-open bantamweight division. Hong Kong’s Pascual had a spotty record up until a recent stateside move, at which point she established herself as a featherweight knockout artist before getting the UFC call in February. Pascual has yet to get a win in her two trips to the Octagon—she did have a case to get the decision over Joselyne Edwards in June—but she has some solid tools at her disposal. She is big, durable and solid enough on the mat, even if she can be a bit plodding at times. There is a concern about whether she can cut to 135 pounds—it has been nearly three years since her last bantamweight fight, and the Edwards bout was moved to featherweight during fight week—but assuming that goes off without a hitch, she will look for her first UFC win against Vidal. At 24 years old, youth is on Vidal’s side though the Brazilian is clearly still quite raw. Living up to her “Tratora” nickname, her approach mostly centers around straightforward pressure and attempting to bully her opponents. Vidal can show some craft at times—she won her last fight via heel hook—but she tends to run out of steam, particularly since she is prone to being outmuscled. As an example, she seemed to be on the losing end of a grind against recent UFC signee Ailin Perez until the latter lost the fight via disqualification. Pitted against someone much larger with some skill on the ground in Pascual, Vidal will need to show a new level in order to get much done. The pick is Pascual via decision.