Sports Reporter | Capper
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The UFC heads back to Perth, Australia for one of the most anticipated PPV events of the summer where the middleweight championship is up for grabs.
In the main event, we have a showdown between two of the best middleweights the UFC has to offer as the champion Dricus Du Plessis finally gets to settle the score against the former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who's looking to become only the second three-time champion in UFC history.
On the prelims, we have a matchup in the women's flyweight division between two surging prospects Casey O'Neill and Luana Santos.
O'Neill will be hoping her return to the Octagon will put her back into the win column meanwhile, Santos will be looking to keep rolling into hostile territory this weekend.
These two female competitors are coming to put on a show for the fight fans, so let's take a look at the matchup and our O'Neill-Santos prediction and pick.
Casey O'Neill (9-2) started her career 4-0 looking like a bonafide contender but she has since lost back-to-back fights most recently getting submitted by Ariane Lipski in her last fight. She looks to get back on track when she faces off against rising star Luana Santos this weekend at UFC 305.
While O'Neill has the striking to keep this fight competitive on the feet, she is going to need to get her grappling game going in this fight against Santos. Santos will certainly struggle if she gets into a grappling match with O'Neill.
As far as this matchup goes, Santos does a great at keeping distance with her kicks and uses her size to win the exchanges in the clinch however, O'Neill has done a great defensively on the feet and her double leg and single leg takedowns are ready to combat with Santos' judo background.
Luana Santos (8-1) is looking like a star in the making since she's made her UFC debut. Santos has run through the competition in her UFC career compiling three wins in just one year with the promotion.
Santos is a very well-rounded fighter who will give O'Neill problems on the feet and on the canvas but it will be best to just pick O'Neill apart at range in this matchup.
She is the sharper and cleaner fighter on the feet and she should be able to counter O'Neill's aggression as she looks to take this fight to the canvas.
This is going to be a great scrap between these two flyweight competitors. Both O'Neill and Santos are looking for a statement victory as they look to climb the flyweight rankings this weekend.
Ultimately, this fight will be relatively close throughout but it will be Santos who will be getting the better of the exchanges on the feet and as long as she doesn't get put on her back she will get the win on the scorecards and extend her UFC winning streak to 5-0.
FINAL O'NEILL-SANTOS PICK & PREDICTION: Luana Santos (-154)
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