Preview: UFC on ESPN 60 Prelims

Women's Flyweights

Luana Carolina (10-4) vs. Lucie Pudilova (14-9)
Odds: Carolina (-115), Pudilova (-105)

It looks like Pudilova's second UFC stint might be going the same way as the first, with the Czech fighter struggling to find a foothold in the promotion. Pudilova initially came to the UFC in 2017 as a bantamweight and put together a reputation for exciting fights, even if she wasn't particularly successful in terms of results; Pudilova fought with a ton of aggressive and tried to make things happen, but a combination of subpar athleticism and takedown defense usually led to an uphill battle, even after a cut down to 125 pounds. Pudilova retooled, changed camps and put together a solid regional record to get the call back from the UFC in 2022 after a two-year absence, and her return win over Wu Yanan went well enough, with Pudilova exhibiting both some newfound patience and a solid offensive wrestling game of her own. But she's now riding two straight losses; a decision win for Joselyne Edwards was quite controversial, as Pudilova banked a ton of control time that apparently didn't score with the judges, but her loss to Ailin Perez was another bout where she was outgunned both physically and as a defensive wrestler. So it's time for another cut down to flyweight, where she'll be welcomed by Luana Carolina, who's quietly become a solid fighter over the last few years.

Carolina was easy to write off for the first few years of her UFC career; a tall and athletic striker, the Brazilian received almost no pushback during her regional career and did not handle adversity well early on against better competition. Even Carolina's biggest win of her early run against Lupita Godinez was easy to write off, as it saw Godinez move up a division for her second fight in seven days -- and once she subsequently got knocked out via spinning elbow by Molly McCann, the book on Carolina seemed to be written. But while her last two fights haven't been particularly fun, she's been able to gut out ugly wins over Ivana Petrovic and Julija Stoliarenko as a neutralizer in the clinch and on the mat while still leveraging her length on the feet as needed. Pudilova moving down a division might change those dynamics a bit, but given Petrovic is a massive flyweight and Stoliarenko is another converted bantamweight, this looks like another fight where Carolina can just neutralize whatever the Czech fighter brings to the table. The pick is Carolina via decision.

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