Two new UFC women’s fights have been announced, one in the strawweight division and the other a bantamweight clash, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my quick thoughts on each bout. Juliana Lima vs. Ericka Almeida, UFC Fight Night 67 After Jessica Penne was pulled from her fight with Juliana Lima to fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the UFC women’s strawweight championship, Lima will now face off against short-notice opponent Ericka Almeida at UFC Fight Night 67, which takes place May 30 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. Lima is a pretty solid wrestler and is one of the biggest strawweights in the division. She actually gave Jedrzejczyk a really tough fight when they fought, and even took the champ down a few times. She did lose that fight by decision, but he bounced back with a decisive decision win over Nina Ansaroff in her next outing, where she exhibited her smothering wrestling attack. As for Almeida, she is making her UFC debut on very short notice, but she is the Jungle Fights women’s strawweight champion, so she must be pretty good. Only 26 years of age, she is undefeated in her young career so far and seems like a very solid prospect, although the UFC is really throwing her to the fire here against Lima. Still, I think she’s pretty solid, and I expect her to be game here. Lima will likely be favored here because of her UFC experience, but Almeida is a very high-level prospect and she will come to fight. I’m expecting a really competitive fight here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the prospect upset the vet. Sarah Moras vs. Jessica Andrade, UFC Fight Night 72 A women’s bantamweight battle between Sarah Moras and Jessica Andrade is set for UFC Fight Night 72, which takes place July 15 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. This is kind of weird matchmaking. Moras is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Alexis Dufresne, and hasn’t fought in nearly a year since then. She has been asking the UFC for a fight for months of social media, but the promotion only obliged now, but instead of pairing her up with a fighter coming off of a win, she’ll be taking on Andrade, who recently got tapped out by Marion Reneau. Andrade is definitely a solid fighter and ranked above Moras, but I’m still a bit surprised the UFC did a winner vs. loser matchup considering how many other ladies were available to fight. As for the matchup itself, Andrade is going to be favored here as she should be since she’s the better fighter, but Moras is a scrappy mixed martial artist and makes life tough for anyone who steps into the cage with her. Expect Andrade to be favored, but after seeing what happened to her in her last fight, tread cautiously on her here against a game opponent in Moras.
