Preview: UFC on ESPN 62 Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

Cong Wang (5-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Victoria Leonardo (9-5, 1-3 UFC)

ODDS: Wang (-1000), Leonardo (+650)

The UFC debut of China’s Wang is quite interesting, as she has the potential to make an impact on the promotion’s flyweight division in short order. A veteran of various combat sports whose career includes a kickboxing win over Valentina Shevchenko shortly before “Bullet” arrived in the UFC, Wang moved to mixed martial arts in 2022 and has hit the ground running. She has been a bit choosy and patient in her striking choices from time to time, but Wang has clearly improved from fight to fight, and her contract-earning win on the Road to UFC series in May was the best showing yet, as she scored a quick and dominant win while even delivering a submission in the process. Welcoming Wang to the Octagon is Leonardo, who finds herself in a familiar role as an underdog on prospect-testing duty. That’s how Leonardo earned her contract in the first place, deflating the hype of Chelsea Hackett on the Contender Series in 2020. The UFC has mostly kept pitting her against standout athletes, with Leonardo usually putting in a tough effort before getting finished, often suffering a major injury in the process. This looks to be another one of those instances. While Leonardo might be a bit underrated at this point, she doesn’t figure to have much of an answer for the rapidly improving Wang. The pick is Wang via first-round knockout.

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