Preview: UFC Fight Night 233 Prelims

Women’s Strawweights

Rayanne Amanda dos Santos (14-6, 0-0 UFC) vs. Talita Alencar (4-0-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: dos Santos (-148), Alencar (+124)

Debuting Brazilian strawweights each look to kick their UFC career off right. Alencar was an interesting entrant on this year’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series. A multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion, Alencar was a recent convert to mixed martial arts facing her first real test in her new sport. The fight itself was a mixed bag, fittingly ending in a draw. Alencar showed a dogged wrestling game through two rounds and failed to find a submission, after which she tired badly and had to regroup multiple times to make it to the final horn. Alencar is an absolute fireplug at 115 pounds, which raises some questions as to her physical ceiling in this weight class, but for at least one fight, she gets some size parity against a countrywoman. Dos Santos also failed to win a contract on DWCS; in her case, she dropped a decision to Denise Gomes in a scrappy fight in 2022. Like Alencar, dos Santos was facing her first real professional competition on DWCS. She bounced back by landing in Invicta Fighting Championships, eventually becoming the promotion’s atomweight titleholder. Dos Santos managed to show an impressive array of skills against opponents her own size, mixing some bouncy striking with some solid wrestling and grappling, but it is unclear how everything will click once she is back facing much larger opponents. Dos Santos is clearly the more natural fighter at this stage, but the lean is that Alencar can win this through sheer horsepower. Alencar’s game is one-dimensional, but she reads as the stronger athlete and should be able to maintain her gas tank without having to control a much larger opponent. The pick is Alencar via decision.

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Park vs. Ross
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Taira vs. Hernandez
dos Santos vs. Alencar