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#3 UFC Flyweight title: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Andrade
The third UFC title fight on this card is an indicator as to how thin the promotion’s female Flyweight division really is.
Champion Valentina Shevchenko will be looking for her fifth successful title defense after claiming the title in December 2018.
Challenger Jessica Andrade, meanwhile, will be fighting for just the second time at Flyweight in her UFC career.
Admittedly, her debut at 125lbs was mightily impressive. She destroyed former title challenger Katlyn Chookagian in the first round with punches to the body.
However, against Shevchenko, she’ll be facing off with an entirely different animal.
One of the most technical strikers in UFC history, The Bullet is basically perfect on the feet. She rarely gets hit, can chain together combinations from any angle and is more than capable of knocking an opponent out.
And on the ground she’s also a highly underrated submission artist, holding wins over the likes of Julianna Pena and Chookagian on the mat.
Her last defense saw her firmly outpoint Jennifer Maia, and while the UFC’s announcers tried to play up Maia’s chances, in reality the Brazilian was outclassed.
And realistically, there’s no reason why Andrade should fare any better. Sure, she’s got plenty of striking power, but Shevchenko came close to beating Amanda Nunes twice.
The UFC will undoubtedly talk up Andrade’s chance of winning this fight, focusing on her punching power, but in reality she’s got little more than a puncher’s chance. For Bate Estaca to win would be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
It’s doubtful that we’ll see that happen and so the pick is Shevchenko via third-round TKO.
The Pick: Shevchenko via third-round TKO
#4 UFC 261: The Main Card
Picks in bold
UFC Middleweight division: Uriah Hall vs. Chris Weidman
UFC Light-Heavyweight division: Anthony Smith vs. Jimmy Crute
#5 UFC 261: The Prelims
Picks in bold
UFC Welterweight division: Alex Oliveira vs. Randy Brown
UFC Welterweight division: Dwight Grant vs. Stefan Sekulic
UFC Middleweight division: Karl Roberson vs. Brendan Allen
UFC Featherweight division: Patrick Sabatini vs. Tristan Connelly
UFC Bantamweight division: Danaa Batgerel vs. Kevin Natividad
UFC Lightweight division: Kazula Vargas vs. Rong Zhu
UFC Flyweight division: Qileng Aori vs. Jeffrey Molina
UFC Strawweight division: Na Liang vs. Ariane Carnelossi
UFC Bantamweight division: Jamey Simmons vs. Johnny Munoz
