Preview: UFC on ESPN 30 Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

NR | J.J. Aldrich (9-4) vs. NR | Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos (6-3)

ODDS: Aldrich (-350), Demopoulos (+290)

It has been nice to see Aldrich find her footing in the UFC. Early in Aldrich’s career, it became apparent that she was a smart fighter and technically well-rounded, but athleticism was a major question for her success moving up a level. That is still an underlying current of most of her fights in the UFC, but to her credit, Aldrich has obviously done the work to get in much better shape and make that less of a liability, which included bulking up from strawweight to flyweight. Given where she was, it is legitimately impressive that Aldrich managed to lean on her wrestling for a win against Cortney Casey in March, and it will be interesting to see if she can fully move from high-floor gatekeeper to a potential contender. This time around, she will face a late-notice replacement and UFC newcomer in Demopoulos, who comes from the complete opposite end of the spectrum as an obvious athlete looking to fill in the technical gaps. Demopoulos is a powerhouse at strawweight and capable of some impressive grappling on the mat; her inverted triangle choke of Sam Hughes in 2020 was the perfect example of what Demopoulos can pull out of her bag of tricks, even against a solid opponent. However, even though she strikes with power, Demopoulos tends to give back just as much as she dishes out because of her lack of defense. Add in that she has also been willing to ride out bad positions in search of the submission, and the ease of her wins tends to come down to how much she can athletically overpower her opponents. From that perspective, she is set up about as well as could be expected for a late-notice move up a division. With that said, Aldrich should be mindful enough to avoid a finish and ride out a controlled win. The pick is Aldrich via decision.

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