Preview: UFC 298 Prelims

Women's Flyweights
Andrea Lee (13-8) vs. Miranda Maverick (12-5)
Odds: Maverick (-192), Lee (+160)

This could be a bit of a grind in practice, but a well-matched fight here sees two flyweights each trying to make a statement. Lee was hyped as a prospect for years ahead of the UFC opening up their 125-pound division, so it wasn't a shock that "KGB" got the call shortly after the division came to be; and while Lee hasn't reached a championship ceiling, she's put in a solid half-decade under the promotion's banner. Lee's typically been advertised as a standout striker owing to a boxing and kickboxing background, and while that can come through in her fights, she's usually at her most effective in a grinding and clinch-heavy fight; Lee's strong but slow, so being able to play the bully is usually a much more reliable escape hatch if things start to go south on the feet. Lee's been able to lean on that physicality to win about half her fights in the UFC, but she's also hit a clear plateau against opponents she can't overwhelm, which has become a problem in recents years against the wave of younger athletes coming up the flyweight ranks; Maycee Barber had the strength to keep up with Lee in a closely-matched war, while Viviane Araujo and Natalia Silva were fast enough to essentially freeze Lee out of their fights. Lee's still a solid fighter, but she really could use a win here after losing all three of those bouts - though she gets matched up with another young gun here in Maverick.

Maverick was another prospect that got hyped during her rise up the ranks, starting young and hitting the UFC in 2020 at just 22 years of age. Maverick's wrestling has been her bread and butter throughout her career, though she's struggled to turn the corner into becoming a more well-rounded fighter; she's done well to develop her striking from where it once was, but it's still not a particularly comfortable or effective part of her game yet, leaving her to pivot back to her wrestling in order to put away her wins - or, in the case of her losses, only change approaches once it's too late. There are enough glimmers, both in terms of Maverick's improvements and willingness to put her nose to the grindstone, to suggest that things will eventually click for Maverick, and now would be a nice time for that to happen; given that the wrestling phase of this fight reads as a bit of a stalemate, this fight should come down to who the harder shot-for-shot striker is in a slow-paced kickboxing match. Right now that figures to be Lee's wheelhouse; the pick is Lee via decision.

Jump To »
Lemos vs. Dern
De Lima vs. Tafa
Nakamura vs. Vera
Zhang vs. Ribeiro
Quinlan vs. Barlow
Elliott vs. Woodburn
Lee vs. Maverick