Preview: UFC 262 Prelims

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Women’s Flyweights

NR | Gina Mazany (7-4, 2-4 UFC) vs. NR | Priscila Cachoeira (9-3, 1-3 UFC)

ODDS: Mazany (-210), Cachoeira (+175)

Early returns look good for Mazany’s cut to flyweight, as the Alaskan put together the best win of her career in November. Mazany did not get the chance to show much in her first UFC stint. She had a thin resume to begin with, and her wrestling-heavy style almost immediately hit a wall against the stronger competition on the UFC roster. That made it a bit of a surprise when she was brought back as a late replacement in June, and after another one-sided loss—this time to Julia Avila—she decided to ply her trade at 125 pounds. It still was not an entirely comfortable performance, but it was by far the most effective of Mazany’s tenure in the Octagon, as her striking looked sharp and she eventually put away Rachael Ostovich on the ground after a dominant performance. She will look to carry that momentum against Cachoeira, who is coming off of her first UFC victory. Cachoeira’s UFC debut remains one of the cruelest bits of matchmaking in the promotion’s history, as the Brazilian drew the short straw and welcomed Valentina Shevchenko to the flyweight division. The end result was a one-sided beating that left Cachoeira recovering from multiple injuries, though “Zombie Girl” proved to be a game competitor once she finally returned. Cachoeira’s arsenal is almost entirely based around stiff power strikes, but she is relentless in her pursuit of a knockout and managed to blast Shana Dobson in February 2020. Cachoeira could similarly catch “Danger” cold—the latter is not a particularly comfortable striker and looks to move forward—but Mazany’s wrestling should be effective whenever she decides to pursue it. The pick is for Mazany to grind out a decision win.

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