Preview: UFC Vegas 104 Prelims

Women’s Bantamweights

Josiane Nunes (10-3, 3-2 UFC) vs. Priscila Cachoeira (12-6, 4-6 UFC)

ODDS: Nunes (-185), Cachoeira (+154)

Cachoeira’s UFC debut in 2018 was fairly infamous. The Brazilian was about as raw a brawler as the UFC signed at the time, and some late changes resulted in her making her introduction against Valentina Shevchenko—a pairing that resulted in a one-sided beating that left Cachoeira with a few major injuries. That apparently gave Cachoeira a long leash, as she has remained with the UFC in the years since despite some middling results and issues inside and outside the cage. With all that aside, she’s still an entertaining fighter. Cachoeira’s first few years were marked by her throwing wildly and leaning on her durability, but to her credit, she has learned to pick her spots to try and throw down, maximizing her effectiveness in the process. However, she has still been fairly lost against any opponent who consistently looks to outwrestle her. That won’t be an issue against Nunes, as Cachoeira makes a move up to 135 pounds and gets paired with another slugger. Nunes has a shorter frame than most strawweights, but she’s squat and solid enough that she has had to ply her trade at bantamweight and featherweight, where, despite her lack of size, her approach is probably still more effective. Nunes hits with some thudding power, and that’s about the entirety of her game, and it has come with some limited effectiveness as she has moved up the ladder. Knockouts turned into decision wins, and Nunes’ last two fights have seen her mostly get neutralized in decision losses. There doesn’t figure to be much neutralizing done on either end, and each woman’s durability could just turn this into a non-stop sloppy brawl. The lean is that Cachoeira has evolved enough to find success sooner rather than later and pour on enough to earn a stoppage even if she doesn’t put Nunes out outright. The pick is Cachoeira via first-round stoppage.

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Nunes vs. Cachoeira
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