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Women’s Strawweights

Gillian Robertson (11-7, 8-5 UFC) vs. Piera Rodriguez (9-0, 2-0 UFC)

ODDS: Robertson (-125), Rodriguez (+105)

Robertson’s cut down to strawweight is an interesting gambit. A career flyweight under the UFC banner, Robertson settled in as one of the better submission artists among the ranks at 125 pounds thanks to an impressive level of vicious creativity. “The Savage” has also put in the work to supplement that game, which has been a mixed bag. She has become a solid wrestler, but her striking has become much more of an adventure. Robertson clearly has some right ideas, but her level of comfort on the feet has yet to truly click. If things start to go south, that part of her game tends to go out of the window, leaving her somewhat aimless if she cannot get her opponent to the mat. Never a standout athlete, Robertson clearly hit a physical wall against some of the more powerful prospects at flyweight, which gives this cut down to 115 pounds both high potential risk and high potential reward. She will be even slower as a striker, but assuming her chin holds up, she might be able to leverage her size into becoming an absolute terror as a physical bully. To that end, Rodriguez is about the right level of test to see how Robertson hangs in her new weight class. The Venezuelan is undersized but has a game built around bringing power to her opponents. Rodriguez can crack, and thus far, she has done well to outlast opponents who look to outwrestle her, as she kicked her UFC career off with decision wins over Kay Hansen and Sam Hughes. Even if Robertson needs a few tries to get this fight to the ground, she is a much more potent grappler than Hansen or Hughes, leaving open the potential that she can end this in short order before things have the potential to go sideways. It could get rough for Robertson as she moves through the 115-pound ranks, but the bet is that she can clear the bar here and leverage her potential newfound physical advantages. The pick is Robertson via first-round submission.

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