Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Rothwell vs. Dos Santos’

Women’s Strawweights

Maryna Moroz (6-1) vs Cristina Stanciu (5-0)

THE MATCHUP: Stanciu’s undefeated record looks solid at first glance, but not one of her five fights under the Romanian RXF banner has come against an opponent with anything better than barely a .500 win-loss record. Stanciu is a striker first and foremost, and her style is extremely aggressive. Conjuring images of an early Pride Fighting Championships-era Wanderlei Silva, Stanciu bides her time only long enough to land a heavy, punishing strike, at which point she unleashes a hellacious barrage until the opponent goes away.

This approach has worked well for Stanciu so far, but there is little reason to believe that Moroz will be so easy to beat up. With a boxing background, Moroz displays solid combination punching, every shot flowing off of a stiff jab. Moroz has been a little too confident in her punching prowess in the past; she was so determined to exchange with Valerie Letourneau, for example, that she left herself unbalanced and exposed to a cracking right hand in the first round. Still, Moroz is by far more technical and reserved than Stanciu.

Stanciu does own a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, but so far in her short MMA career, her grappling has only been put on display against badly overmatched competition. Moreover, Stanciu does not seem to have much of a wrestling game, relying on her striking to fell opponents and force ground exchanges. By submitting Joanne Calderwood in her UFC debut, Moroz has already earned more faith in her MMA grappling than her opponent.

THE ODDS: Moroz (-190), Stanciu (+161)

THE PICK: There is the distinct possibility that Stanciu storms out of the gate, goads Moroz into a brawl and gets the better of it. Moroz is young and inexperienced, and Stanciu’s aggression will be a completely unfamiliar kind of test. Still, Moroz’s experience has to count for a lot. Two UFC fights do not mean much in most divisions, but women’s strawweight is a different story. Moroz’s 1-1 UFC record means much more than a hundred of Stanciu’s ritual sacrifices. The pick is Moroz by second-round submission.

Last Fights » The Prelims