UFC 203: Miocic vs Overeem Date: September 10, 2016 Arena: Quicken Loans Arena City: Cleveland, OH Women’s Strawweight bout: Joanne Calderwood (+125) vs Jessica Andrade (-145) Fight Breakdown: Kicking things off for the UFC 203 fight card on Pay Per View will be a women’s strawweight contest between Scottland’s Joanne Calderwood and Brazil’s Jessica Andrade, with Calderwood being a +125 ($100 to win $125) underdog and Andrade being a -145 ($145 to win $100) favorite to win at Several Bookmakerss. Joanne Calderwood (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is coming off a second round TKO victory over former UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Valerie Letourneau; arguably the biggest win of her professional mixed martial arts career. It is worth noting that bout was at 125-pounds, being the UFC’s very first ever women’s flyweight bout (and potentially the last). She now enjoys a two fight winning streak inside the Octagon and will be hoping to make it three in a row and entering the title picture by taking out Andrade. “Jo-Jo” is a talented striker and a world class Muay Thai champion with a variety of weapons in her arsenl. She is an aggressive fighter who likes to keep the pressure on her opponents. She throws heavy in volume and likes to go to the body with her strikes. Calderwood has an excellent kicking game, including solid leg kicks, a nice front kick and a beautiful spinning back kick. She is effective with all of her limbs inside the Octagon, including elbows and knees. She is quite effective from inside the clinch, from where she likes to initiate her aforementioned elbow and knee strikes. The 29 year old puts together some nice combinations on the feet, works a nice jab and has a solid overhand right. To compliment her striking, she has a decent wrestling game that is constantly improving. “Jo-Jo” works some solid takedowns, especially with bodylocks and trips, and she works a good ground and pound attack when finding herself in top position on the mat. Calderwood owns a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, though her submission defense in questionable, as she her lone career loss came via first round submission against Maryna Moroz, and she also lost via first round submission to Rose Namajunas on TUF 21. I expect her to be at somewhat of a general Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu disadvantage heading into this contest against Andrade, who owns a purple belt in the art. Her cardio is another question mark, I think, especially at 115-pounds, though I would expect her to have enough in the tank to make the three round distance, should the judges need to have a say in the outcome of this one. Jessica Andrade (11-5-1 NC MMA, 1-4-1 NC UFC) competed at flyweight prior to signing with the UFC, but moved up to bantamweight to fight in the big show. After going 4-3 at 135-pounds, she opted to move all the way down to the women’s strawweight division, as the UFC does not yet have a women’s flyweight division. In her 115-pound debut, she took on former UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Jessica Penne and defeated her via second round TKO, which was faster than the champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk was able to get her out of there. Now with a win under her belt, Andrade aims to make it two in a row for herself by securing what would arguably be the biggest victory of her professional mixed martial arts career. The Brazilian is a resilient fighter who can take punishment and dish it out. She is always determined, hungry and game for battle. While not the most technically sound striker, she has shown solid improvements on the feet on a fight-to-fight basis. She is developing some good Muay Thai skills and packs a lot of power in her strikes, especially since making the move down to the women’s 115-pound division. The 24 year old is also a threat on the mat, as she possesses a very good submission game and has arguably the best guillotine choke in all of women’s MMA. It is worth noting that 50% (7 of 14) of her professional mixed martial arts career victories have come inside the distance. Five by T/KO and six by submission; five of them being guillotine chokes. Andrade works pretty good takedowns, as well, and is quite dominant from top position on the mat. Despite having gone the three round distance just four times in her professional mixed martial arts career, the Brazilian has displayed good cardio, even at 115-pounds, though she has yet to see a third round in her new division. That is a question mark that could potentially be answered this Saturday night. Gabe’s Thoughts: At 115-pounds, I like Andrade here. I think she puts the pressure on Calderwood, works her body and likely gets a T/KO stoppage. She hits hard and I don’t know if Calderwood’s body can take that much damage after cutting all the way down to the strawweight limit. I think Andrade will defend Calderwood’s takedown attempts and punish her on the feet at close range. At -145, I think she is the right side for a play in this contest. Gabe’s Call: Andrade by T/KO (punches, 3:21 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Andrade (-145) 2.9u to win 2u
