Preview: UFC Fight Night 180 Prelims

Ground game on point! @Savage_UFC puts the finishing touch on a dominant performance.

#UFCVegas3 continues on @ESPN and E+. pic.twitter.com/PK9UIw0AaJ

— UFC (@ufc) June 20, 2020

Women’s Flyweights

Gillian Robertson (8-4) vs. Poliana Botelho (8-2)

ODDS: Robertson (-235), Botelho (+195)

This is an interesting pairing between flyweight hopefuls and another decent test for Robertson, who has quietly enjoyed a successful run since appearing on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2017. Canada’s “Savage” is not particularly assuming, but she has a delightfully vicious grappling game thanks to her knack for finding an opponent’s arm or neck. That has essentially carried her in the UFC thus far. While her striking game is coming along, it still is not particularly functional in terms of winning rounds or fights. There is also an athletic ceiling about which to worry, as Maycee Barber showed in late 2019, but given that Robertson entered the UFC so young—she is still just 25 years old—there is a lot to like about where she stands going forward. Meanwhile, Botelho is looking to gain some much-needed momentum since her move to flyweight; the Brazilian won her first UFC fight at 125 pounds in April 2019, but she has remained out of action since. Botelho does not seem to have a clear game plan when it come to her fights, but she still provides constant danger. She throws single strikes with a ton of power in an attempt to scare off her opponents, and she has some solid submission skills of her own. Botelho can be overconfident in her grappling, which means Robertson can likely find a submission if she can get this to the mat, and that sets up a dynamic that should settle the fight within a round. Robertson is going to try to get the takedown and the submission, and she will either succeed or get hit extremely hard—likely via one of Botelho’s big kicks to the body—while trying to do so. The pick is Robertson via first-round submission, but this should be an excellent sprint.

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