Preview: UFC Kansas City Prelims

Women’s Bantamweights

Joselyne Edwards (14-6, 5-4 UFC) vs. Chelsea Chandler (6-3, 2-2 UFC)

ODDS: Edwards (-298), Chandler (+240)

The wait continues for someone interesting to shake out at women’s bantamweight, and this is another fight towards that goal. Things could click at some point for Edwards, given that the Panamanian is one of the best athletes in the division and, despite about a decade of pro experience, still somehow sits on the right side of 30. Edwards’ UFC career thus far has been an adventure, with her showing flashes of potential from fight to fight but rarely putting together a complete performance, making for a lot of close fights where she has the physical advantages to get a lot done but also gives back gains through poor decision making, often on the ground. On the plus side, she did look sharp in her last fight, scoring the first finish of her UFC career against Tamires Vidal, so perhaps she can further turn a corner at Chandler’s expense. Chandler came to the UFC as a budding featherweight prospect, and the hope was assumedly that she would be able to maintain her bullying style down at bantamweight, which has only worked out somewhat. Chandler is certainly still physical but not enough to make much hay thus far given the other limitations in her game, particularly on the feet. That has left Chandler as a one-dimensional wrestler who doesn’t have the athleticism to always get things to the ground. The good news is that Edwards has historically been a poor defensive wrestler, giving Chandler at least one path to victory. However, even if things go sideways for Edwards, she has enough size and athleticism in her own right that she should be able to continue getting this fight back to the feet to win rounds on better offense. The pick is Edwards via decision.

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