#2 ranked contender Holly Holm opens as a $1.78 favourite here, with #6 ranked contender Irene Aldana the $2.05 underdog.
Holm has had a very high-profile career to date, entering this bout with a 13-5 career record.
Her recent form hasn’t been especially good, winning just 3 of her last 8 fights. A decision win over Pennington earlier this year might be just what she needed to regain form.
Known primarily for her striking ability, she has 8 career knockouts and 5 decision wins thus far.
Aldana has also had an impressive career to date, entering this bout with a 12-5 career record.
In contrast to Holm, she is in career-best form, winning 5 of her last 6 contests.
She has shown a ton of versatility in her wins, earning 6 knockouts, 3 submissions, and 3 decisions so far.
That said, I think this is definitely her highest-profile fight against her best opponent yet.
I’m not sure she’s ready for Holm’s unique style and I’m going to predict a Holly win here.
She definitely has the matchup advantage on the feet and the takedown defense to avoid a ground and pound show.
An early KO is definitely possible and I don’t mind the KO/Points double chance market.
The bookies can’t split these two women, with both opening as $1.91 co-favourites.
Germaine De Randamie enters this bout with a 9-4 career record, having won 5 of her last 6 fights.
She earned her way to a title shot, but was ultimately defeated by Amanda Nunes in a unanimous decision last time out.
Known primarily for her striking prowess, she has 4 knockouts and 5 submissions to her name so far.
Her opponent, Julianna Pena, is 9-3 through her 12 career fights.
Pena is also 5-1 in her last 6 fights since breaking through in the Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs Team Tate.
She is a very versatile fighter, having won 3 fights each by knockout, submission, and decision.
Ultimately, I think De Randamie is the better and more experienced fighter and I like her to win at even money.
She has fought against some of the top fighters in her division and acquitted herself well, where Pena doesn’t have the same experience.
She’ll need to keep this one a striking battle, but I think she has a good chance of a points or KO win if she does.