UFC 183 Date: January 31, 2015 Arena: MGM Grand Garden Arena City: Las Vegas, NV Women’s Bantamweight bout: Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (+175) vs Sara McMann (-210) Fight Breakdown: Headlining the FOX Sports 1 preliminary card for UFC 183 will be a women’s bantamweight contest between a pair of former title challengers in Miesha “Cupcake” Tate and Sara McMann, with Tate being the betting underdog heading into the match-up at +175 ($100 to win $175) and McMann being the favorite to win at -210 ($210 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (15-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is currently riding a two-fight winning streak inside the Octagon with a pair of unanimous decision victories over Liz Carmouche and Rin Nakai, respectively. Headed into this three round contest on Saturday night, she is ready to make it three in a row against the former Olympic silver medalist in McMann. “Cupcake” is a talented wrestler who works solid takedowns, as her former nickname “Takedown” would suggest. She owns two ‘Female Fighter of the Year’ awards and two ‘Submission of the Year’ awards. Tate is a talented submission artist who owns seven of her 15 professional mixed martial arts victories by way of tapout. To compliment her excellent offensive submission game is her solid submission defense. Her takedown defense however is not as good, though she showed some improvements in that department in her last outing. Tate’s striking is rudimentary, though she has been showing constant improvement in that department, as well. The 28-year old has a nice jab and likes to follow it with an uppercut, though she also likes to lead with her uppercut. On the feet, she also favors shots to the body. “Cupcake” throws some decent kicks, too, including a switch kick and a front kick. She also likes to employ her knees and elbows, especially when up against the cage. Her conditioning has not been great, but she made a point to work on it and has shown improvements in the department, proving to still be a fighter who is still getting better. She will likely be at a cardio disadvantage against McMann, but I expect her to have enough in the tank for a full 15-minutes of action, should this fight hit the judge’s scorecards for a decision. Sara McMann (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) came up short in her bid for the UFC Bantamweight title at UFC 170, suffering a TKO defeat against Ronda Rousey within the first minute of action. She bounced back from the loss with a split decision win over former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Lauren Murphy, and now looks to make it two in a row inside the Octagon against the former Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion in Tate. McMann competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where she earned a silver medal in freestyle wrestling. The 34-year old is a very talented wrestler, and is blossoming into a solid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Training under the all-time great Marcelo Garcia, you know she is going to be a threat when the fight hits the mat, and she does a tremendous job of taking the fight there. She possesses excellent takedowns, including a beautiful single leg and a powerful body-lock takedown. Not only has McMann begun to hone a noteworthy offensive submission game, but her submission defense is also very good, as was evident in her three round battle against fellow UFC women’s bantamweight Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler. The Olympic silver medalist has developed solid striking skills, and does a great job of using her strikes to set up her takedowns. On the mat, she remains heavy with her top position, though she is not very active with her ground and pound. However, she does a good job of advancing positions and remains a threat with her ever-growing aforementioned submission game. McMann moves well on her feet, being able to get in and out quickly while dropping effective combinations. She works some nice 1-2’s and possesses a heavy over-hand right. The 34-year old starts off fast; she works nice leg kicks, as well as a solid front kick. She has a good chin and isn’t afraid to take one to land one of her own; more like take one to land a few, because of how quick she is with her hands. The Invicta FC veteran is very powerful, and it is evident when she closes the distance on her opponents. She is an incredible athlete who is always in great shape, so she will be ready for a full three rounds of action come Saturday night, if necessary. Gabe’s Thoughts: It could be a walk in the park or it could get ugly, but when it’s all said and done, I expect McMann to walk away with the victory. I think she will be able to do enough to win each and every round en route to a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. McMann is he more powerful of the two, as well as the superior mixed martial artist, in general. She is the better grappler, as well as the better striker, so I see her getting the better of Tate on the feet and taking her down at will, as well. I think McMann will spend a lot of time in top position in this match-up. Even at her current price of -210, I see a lot of value in her, because I think she should be a -400 favorite heading into this contest. Gabe’s Call: McMann by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Sara McMann (-210) parlayed with Al Iaquinta (-190) at +125 for 4.75u to win 5.95u
