Montana De La Rosa looks to get back to winning ways against Taila Santos, who bounced back from her only career defeat last time out. With 20 finishes between them in 27 career wins, this battle between a submission specialist and knockout artist could end spectacularly!
Montana De La Rosa (11-6) appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 26 and made her UFC debut in the finale. Her record in the promotion stands at 4-2 but she has lost two of her last three and will feel as though she has to win in order to keep her place in the flyweight rankings.
In her last fight in September, De La Rosa lost by unanimous decision to Viviane AraĂşjo, meaning that both of her losses in the UFC have come by the same method. However, three of her four UFC wins are by submission, with eight of her eleven professional victories coming the same way – all of these have been either by rear-naked choke (five times) or armbar (three times).
DE LA ROSA vs SANTOS! #UFCVegas16 is LIVE TOMORROW on ESPN2 and @espn+ pic.twitter.com/fWSG9tDNVk
— danawhite (@danawhite) December 4, 2020
Taila Santos (16-1) made her UFC debut in February after increasing her professional record to 15-0 and being awarded a contract on DWCS: Brazil. Unfortunately for her, the bout earlier this year resulted in a split decision loss to Mara Romero Borella, but Santos bounced back immediately with a dominant display against Molly McCann in July which she won by unanimous decision.
Santos is the former Aspera FC bantamweight champion but has fought only at flyweight in the UFC. The Brazilian once again faces ranked opposition, but with that comes great opportunity as she knows that a win opens up the chance to enter the top 15.
"Now I feel free to fight the way I want. I'm not really worried about the outcome of the fight." – Taila Santos (@Tailasa60780340) talks about the importance of getting her first UFC win and how she's feeling heading into her showdown with Montana de la Rosa 🔊⬆️ pic.twitter.com/fk50VSgsQq
— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 4, 2020
Santos has twelve finishes on her record with ten KO/TKO and two submission victories, and she usually gets the job done quickly as eleven of these have come in the very first round. Santos will be happy if she can keep the fight standing and look for a KO because, with De La Rosa being a submission specialist, this contest may be decided on who can impose their will more and force their opponent into fighting on their terms.
Prediction: De La Rosa by submission.
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