Preview: UFC on ESPN 61 Prelims

Late changes to the UFC on ESPN 61 lineup resulted in a tight four-bout undercard for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest offering this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The featured spot goes to one of the more interesting contests on the entire show, as Karol Rosa comes off one of the best fights of 2023 and looks to put together another strong performance against Pannie Kianzad in the women’s bantamweight division. Elsewhere, a heavyweight clash between Jhonata Diniz and Karl Williams provides some intrigue as a pure striker-versus-wrestler styles clash, and featherweight Youssef Zalal looks to build on an electric return to the UFC in a confrontation with Jarno Errens at 145 pounds.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ESPN 61 prelims:

Women’s Bantamweights

#8 WBW | Karol Rosa (17-6, 6-3 UFC) vs. #11 WBW | Pannie Kianzad (16-8, 5-5 UFC)

ODDS: Rosa (-205), Kianzad (+170)

Has Rosa finally turned things around? Rosa’s UFC debut was an afterthought in 2019, but she immediately showed the chops to be a potential contender. She threw down with Lara Fritzen for three rounds at an eye-popping pace, with Rosa walking away with the victory, and that combination of aggression and pace figured to drown most of the UFC’s bantamweight hopefuls. That held true early on, but as Rosa worked her way up the ladder, her output slowly waned for seemingly no particular reason. She’d get neutralized by wrestlers from time to time, but her performances remained somewhat aimless whenever there wasn’t much of a takedown threat. It seemed about time to write her off—at least in terms of recapturing that aggression—until her December bout with Irene Aldana, an unlikely contender for “Fight of the Year” that saw the two throw down for 15 minutes, with Rosa turning back the clock for her best performance in years despite losing the decision. Rosa keeping that approach will be important against Kianzad, particularly given the Swede’s historical issues against aggressive opponents. It has been nearly a decade since Kianzad seemingly imploded just as she was peaking as a prospect, but “Banzai” has done an impressive job of slowly rebuilding herself over the ensuing years. Given time and space to work, Kianzad is a well-rounded fighter who can hang just about anywhere and plug away at a solid pace, but recent losses to Ketlen Vieira and Macy Chiasson have driven home her major weakness. Kianzad just doesn’t have much of an answer, physically or stylistically, for an opponent willing to march forward and play the bully with a lot of wrestling mixed in. This would be a coinflip if Rosa returns to her passive ways, but the hope is that the Brazilian has turned a corner once again. The pick is Rosa via decision.

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Rosa vs. Kianzad
Williams vs. Diniz
Zalal vs. Errens
Luciano vs. Alencar