Preview: UFC Vegas 106 Prelims

Women’s Strawweights

Tecia Pennington (14-7, 10-7 UFC) vs. Luana Pinheiro (11-4, 3-3 UFC)

ODDS: Pennington (-455), Pinheiro (+350)

After a hot start to her UFC career, Pinheiro could badly use a win to turn things around. Pinheiro looked like a prospect to watch after her 2020 win on the Contender Series, but it was unclear where the Brazilian’s ceiling would wind up. Her approach mostly consisted of high-amplitude judo throws and hunting for the knockout, which worked well enough against subpar athletes; and her first few years under the UFC banner provided frustratingly little information about the depth of her game. Her UFC debut against Randa Markos quickly ended in a disqualification, and she handled a still-burgeoning Sam Hughes before winding up out of action for about a year and a half. Pinheiro’s first real test finally came against Michelle Waterson-Gomez in 2023—a solid fight that she barely eked out, but from there, nothing has clicked particularly well. She has faded in three consecutive losses to ranked competition, with a submission defeat to Angela Hill about a year ago serving as a particularly worrying result given the manner in which it happened. At any rate, Pinheiro looks to snap her skid against Pennington, who has been impressively consistent for the decade-plus history of the UFC’s strawweight division. A rising contender at the time the UFC introduced the 115-pound weight class, she never quite got over the hump to top status but has also never slid out of relevance. Pennington’s combination of frame and game make for an odd fit that also lives up to her “Tiny Tornado” nickname. Short and stout, Pennington has historically been the furthest thing from a power puncher, adopting a high-volume striking style—often from range—while occasionally relying on her physicality in close quarters as needed. That has resulted in her hitting a clear ceiling against opponents who can either effectively pick her apart from range or outmuscle her in the clinch, but it has taken somewhere around a Top 10 strawweight to keep Pennington out of the fight. Impressively, she has picked up right where she left off after a two-year pregnancy layoff, narrowly losing to Tabatha Ricci before beating Carla Esparza in the former champion’s retirement fight. There are some potential pitfalls for Pennington, as Pinheiro figures to land the harder shots and could just wind up outmuscling the longtime veteran. However, Pennington should provide the sort of consistent and hard-fought effort that Pinheiro has yet to actually get past. The pick is Pennington via decision.

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Pennington vs. Pinheiro