Preview: UFC 299 Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

Maryna Moroz (11-5, 6-5 UFC) vs. Joanne Wood (16-8, 8-8 UFC)

ODDS: Moroz (-225), Wood (+185)

In a nice bit of full-circle business, Wood and Moroz run back their fight from 2015, which was one of the largest upsets in the UFC’s history at the time. The UFC had freshly established its strawweight division, and Wood was on the short list of contenders for the next title shot after Joanna Jedrzejczyk beat Carla Esparza to take the belt, particularly since the promotion was making its debut in her native Scotland just a few months later. However, Wood wanted to stay busy in the meantime, and the UFC signed Moroz for what figured to be little more than a warmup. Moroz was essentially a complete unknown, scoring a few submission wins over lightly regarded opposition on the Ukrainian regional scene. Instead, she completely upset the proverbial apple cart, swarming Wood and scoring an armbar finish in just 90 seconds, stunning everyone involved.

In the decade since, Wood’s career has seemingly continually followed that script. Even with a move up to her natural division at flyweight in 2018, Wood has consistently gotten herself to one fight short of a title shot, with nearly every loss resulting in her opponent earning challenger status shortly thereafter. After her 2022 defeat to Alexa Grasso, it does seem any hope of Wood fighting for a championship is finally out the window. She is still a gritty kickboxer, but at 38 years old, she has struggled to keep up in a division increasingly full of standout athletes. As for Moroz, it has been a long and winding road in the ensuing years. The win over Wood was essentially the last fight for Moroz as a submission specialist, as she soon pivoted back to her boxing background with an infamously inaccurate but volume-heavy striking game. That resulted in some ugly wins and one-sided losses until things finally seemed to click in 2019. As soon as it looked like “The Iron Lady” was about to slide out of the promotion, she discovered both some accuracy and some wrestling to score wins over hot prospect Sabina Mazo and future bantamweight title contender Mayra Bueno Silva. Since the pandemic, Moroz’s career has mostly been marked by injuries and inactivity, though she has stayed somewhat active in recent years. She looked somewhat out of her depth against divisional stalwart Jennifer Maia and athletic prospect Karine Silva. This figures to be a much more even fight this time around, on paper and in practice, and does figure to play out as a slow-paced striking match from range given Moroz’s most recent form. That is where Wood has always been most comfortable, and the bet is that the Scotswoman can still gut one more victory out. The pick is Wood via decision.

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Moroz vs. Wood