Next on our tips list for this week is the preliminary card for the highly anticipated UFC 305 bout Du Plessis vs. Adesanya. Luana Santos is set to square off against Casey O’Neil in a thrilling women’s flyweight bout at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. This is high-level MMA and both fighters have something unique to bring to the table, but everything points to the fact that we will witness a closely-fought duel.
The Contenders: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Casey O’Neill
Aged 26 years and 10 months, the Scottish fighter has been a wrecking ball ever since entering the UFC. With a professional record of 9-2-0, “King” weighs 56.7 kg, has a height of 168cm, and a reach of 175cm. The impressive record and forward-moving attack of Casey have got professionals whispering she has the potential to become a future titleholder. Worth noting is the fact that she comes into this fight ranked #18 on the Flyweight Worldwide classification table.
Although Casey comes to this fight with a 2-lose streak, let’s keep in mind that this is her first fight in 2024.
Luana Santos
Santos, aged 24 years and 4 months is a Brazilian fighter bringing a plethora of experience to the octagon. She comes to the fight with a weight of 56.7 kg, a height of 168 cm, and a reach of 170 cm. She ranks #37 on the worldwide Flyweight classification and is on an incredible streak of 5 wins. Her professional record is 8-1-0 and speaks volume on her potentials to become a legend in the sport.
The Matchup: Santos with an Advantage
Luana Santos appears to boast of a number of foreseeable advantages on paper over Casey O’Neill. She won 4 of her fights by submission and has a 60% takedown accuracy compared to 38% for Casey O’Neill. Thus, if the fight was to get to the ground, Santos might pull off an easy win.
On the other hand, Casey O’Neill is very good when it comes to knockouts. If Santos fails to defend well, it will be O’Neill’s 4th career win by KO/KTO at the end of the fight.
O’Neill’s fortitude and confidence would also factor into the equation. Her record for the past 5 fights remains unblemished and her performances dominant, breeding an unwavering self-belief that may have already served a critical advantage.
This fight could easily go either direction. No doubting the grappling of Santos but she has been dotted up in the past while O’Neill brings high-level striking ability to this matchup.
In the end, it can come down to which fighter is able to play their game. Certainly, the outcome of this fight will have significant impact on the women’s flyweight division. Santos and O’Neill are both promising fighters and it looks to be an interesting fight. For now, look out for our upcoming update on this fight where we will share our clear stand on the outcome.
Update
The stage is all set for fireworks on August 17th at the RAC Arena! Casey O’Neill makes her return after almost 7 months and is ready to take on Luana Santos. Worth noting is the fact that the initial bout was Casey O’Neill vs Tereza Bleda, but Bleda withdrew from the fight.
The bookmaker odds are around 2.372 for O’Neill and 1.656 for Luana, which indicates some caution on their part as the fight can swing either way. On my side, I foresee a win for O’Neill. Although on paper Luana has better stats, she has yet to fight someone of the caliber and experience of Casey O’Neill. Three of her 5-win streaks were against relatively inexperienced fighters who are still making their mark in the FlyWeight division. She only began to gain some attention after wins from Stephanie Egger by Unanimous decision and Mariya Agapova by submission, but all UFC professionals agree she still has to prove herself.
With a 66% takedown defense, I trust O’Neill can avoid any attempts made by Luana to take the fight to the ground (which happens to be an area where she thrives well). If O’Neill succeeds in landing accurate strikes, Luana will stand no chance and the fight will be over as soon as it begins.
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