Luana Carolina

picks Mullins but calls it a pass

Rated the clearly better striker: good volume, a genuinely good striking defense (called rare for MMA), and a strong Thai clinch with knees and elbows. Her grappling is the opposite story -- very little takedown defense and explicitly weak off her back, which the analyst calls her biggest problems and the deciding factor if the fight hits the floor.

He gives a detailed striking-range mechanism and repeats the pick emphatically; his stated puzzlement is about why the betting line disagrees with him, not about who wins.

The far better striker in this matchup: good striking defense, good volume, a nasty Thai clinch with good knees and elbows. Her takedown defense is decent and, by his own account, improving over time as opponents increasingly sell out for takedowns against her. Moving up a weight class for this fight.

Gives a specific scorecard prediction (29-28 unanimous decision) and a clear mechanism (early volume, enough takedown defense).

A striker whose Thai clinch (knees and elbows) is her best tool, backed by decent volume and a striking defense that the analyst says has improved drastically from a past weak point. Her takedown defense has likewise come a long way, though he frames whether it is good enough against a wrestler of De La Rosa's level as the open question the fight will answer.

He gives a specific round-by-round mechanism (Carolina wins rounds one and two, Pudilova rallies in the third but falls short) and an explicit scorecard ("gonna lose 2928"). His stated sadness about picking against Pudilova is disclosed fan bias, not a hedge on the win itself, so it does not demote the grade.

Moving up to bantamweight, described as a good, high-volume striker with real striking defense and a very good Thai clinch game. Her takedown defense is said to be actively improving fight over fight, with a caveat that the step up to bigger opponents could change that.

He opens by saying he isn't confident about either woman, lands on a first-round armbar as his expected finish, then calls the whole bout too marginal to play at all.

Carolina is a pretty good volume striker whose best area is the Thai clinch, landing knees and elbows from there, with decent takedown defense. Once taken to the mat, though, he says she struggles off her back -- the exact opening Stoliarenko's armbar specialty is built to exploit.

He states the clear pick is Petrovic; the only hedge voiced anywhere in the chapter is about the finishing METHOD (submission vs. TKO), which does not demote a win-confidence grade.

A good-volume striker who is comfortable and dangerous in the Thai clinch, landing knees and elbows there, with a decent initial stuffing of takedowns. Once actually taken down, though, she is described as unable to do much to work free, which the analyst treats as a serious red flag against a good wrestler like Petrovic.

younger fighter, zero confidence though

Carolina is a good, high-volume striker who also works the Thai clinch for knees and elbows, mirroring her opponent's game almost exactly, plus decent takedown defense that the analyst doesn't expect to be tested much. She is the younger fighter in the matchup, which the analyst cites directly as the deciding factor in an otherwise close, stylistically similar fight.