Former women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie (9-4, 4 KOs) will meet Julianna Pena (9-3, 3 KOs, 3 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Aldana this Saturday, October 3, 2020 at the UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The matchup supports a main event featuring former bantamweight champion Holly Holm (13-5, 8 KOs) and rising contender Irene Aldana (12-5, 6 KOs, 3 SUBs). Let’s take a closer look at scrap between de Randamie and Pena, get into the fight stats and break down your best betting options at the online sportsbook.
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Germaine de Randamie (9-4, 4 KOs)
“The Iron Lady” might not be the most popular fighter, but she’s been a quietly important figure for a few years now. Here’s how good she’s been: in eight UFC fights, she’s only lost to all-time great Amanda Nunes. Along the way, she won the inaugural featherweight championship with a win over Holly Holm, UD’d the well-regarded Raquel Pennington, and needed just 16 seconds to hand the highly touted Aspen Ladd her first pro loss.
Just as a reminder, the 36-year old is actually the No. 1 contender at 135 pounds. In her last outing, she faced Nunes for the second time in a title shot, but was completely dismantled for the majority of the fight. The silver lining here is that GDR actually got in some big licks early when the two were standing up. The Dutchwoman did so well on the feet that Nunes took the easy route and went with takedowns and wrestling for the rest of the contest. That’s a huge testament to her kickboxing skills, as the champ is best-known for her explosive Muay Thai. The bad news is that it really didn’t take much high-level wrestling to completely expose GDR.
The formula is simple: stay on the feet to win. Only a few women are capable of hanging with her in a striking match, and Pena is not one of them.
Julianna Pena (9-3, 3 KOs, 3 SUBs)
Though Pena entered the UFC with two straight losses in regional promotions, she acquitted herself well inside the octagon, winning her first four fights. Knockout wins over Jessica Rakoczy and Milana Dudieva gave her some fight, while decisions over Jessica Eye and Cat Zingano showed that she could win against upper tier women. That led to a high-profile showdown with Valentina Shevchenko - the second best woman fighter in the world behind Amanda Nunes. Understandably, Pena was unable to best Bullet, and was submitted in two rounds despite her reputation as a stellar grappler. That would be the last time we’d see Pena for two years, as she took time off to have a baby. She returned to the octagon last year, scoring a UD over Nicco Montano.
We’re still not sure how good Pena is. To be honest, it seems like she is a contender more because of how shallow the division rather than her skills. Fighters in this weight class can get pretty far just by being big and relentless, and that’s exactly what “The Venezuelan Vixen” does with her wrestling. She’s a big, strong bantamweight who is an above average grinder. The good news for her is that’s the best style to beat a kickboxer like GDR.
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: de Randamie 2.72 / Pena 2.96
Striking accuracy: de Randamie 47% / Pena 51%
Strikes absorbed per minute: de Randamie 2.15 / Pena 1.51
Striking defense: de Randamie 64% / Pena 47%
Grappling Stats
Takedowns per 15 minutes: de Randamie 0.0 / Pena 2.60
Takedown accuracy: de Randamie 0% / Pena 52%
Takedown defense: de Randamie 71% / Pena 28%
Submission average: de Randamie 0.2 / Pena 0.9
UFC Picks
Tough call here, as Pena’s pressure and grappling could give GDR tons of problems. But Pena is no Nunes, who had the strength and athleticism to put The Iron Lady on her back and keep her there. GDR generally has strong takedown defense, and it should hold up here against a fighter who doesn’t have high level wrestling technique. She’ll clearly own the standup and bank enough points to take the decision.
UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Aldana Card & Odds
Women’s Bantamweight - Irene Aldana -107 vs. Holly Holm -117
Women’s Bantamweight - Germaine de Randamie -137 vs. Julianna Pena +113
Welterweight - Court McGee -132 vs. Carlos Condit +108
Women’s Strawweight - Jinh Yu Frey +114 vs. Loma Lookboonmee -138
Heavyweight - Carlos Felipe +209 vs. Yorgan de Castro -256
Bantamweight - Heili Alateng +246 vs. Casey Kenney -308
Featherweight - Josh Culibao +335 vs. Charles Jourdain -439
Lightweight - Jessin Ayari -117 vs. Luigi Vendramini -107
Middleweight - Nassourdine Imavov +123 vs. Jordan Williams -147
Middleweight - Dequan Townsend +243 vs. Dusko Todorovic -303
Middleweight - KB Bhullar +225 vs. Tom Breese -279
Bantamweight - Cameron Else +335 vs. Kyler Phillips -439
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