Shauna Bannon

He spends several segments on an unresolved question about how she handles 0-2 pressure, and admits plainly he 'can't feel super confident' about the pick.

Shauna Bannon is a good striker built around a varied kicking game -- kicks to all levels with excellent balance, good combinations and the ability to fight from either stance -- though she is hittable once an opponent tracks her down. Her grappling is the bigger concern: takedown defense is shaky and she can be controlled, though she stays active off her back even if it rarely leads anywhere. The analyst does not see her takedown defense as a major issue here specifically, since he does not expect Caliari to hunt takedowns much.

root-beer idiom plus explicit 'dog or pass' stay-off framing caps the pick at coinflip despite naming Hughes

Called by the analyst as the more technically skilled fighter in this bout: kicks to all levels with excellent balance to chamber and chain them, good combination work mixing punches and kicks, comfortable switching stance. Her striking defense and takedown defense are the holes, and she can be controlled on the mat -- he frames her as the better fighter yet still picks against her.

He says outright he 'doesn't feel mega confident,' picks the priced underdog, and hedges the mechanism itself with 'maybe' and 'probably.'

As of 2025-03-16, not his newest read. A good, varied kicking striker with excellent balance and combinations who can switch stances, but whose takedown defense and striking defense are both flagged, and who gets controlled on the mat. The analyst still credits her as gritty under pressure.

names Ardelean outright as his pick and argues she starts faster and lands first; the only softening is about WHEN Bannon might rally, not whether Ardelean wins.

A durable, gritty kicker with a varied kicking arsenal he still rates well despite her one loss, which he attributes to a genuine step up in opposition rather than decline. Her defense (both on the feet and on the ground) is the clear hole in her game.

Calls it a razor-thin matchup and says he wouldn't pick it if the channel didn't require one (hedging idiom), plus a stated refusal to bet it -- caps at coinflip despite naming Bannon twice.

Bannon, making her UFC debut, is a solid Taekwondo-based striker with kicks to all levels, good combination work and the ability to strike from either stance; her balance is praised but her striking and takedown defense both lag, though she scrambles well off her back. The analyst favors her forward pressure to win rounds on the feet against a taller, rangier opponent.