Flyweights
BETTING ODDS: Horth (-180); Aldrich (+150)
Aldrich (14-7; 10-6 UFC) meets Horth (9-2; 4-2 UFC) in a clash of
flyweights with a number of striking similarities. Both arrived in
the UFC relatively unheralded and have gone on to be very pleasant
surprises. Both are good-sized, physically strong flyweights who
make up for average athleticism with conditioning, well-rounded
skills and smart game planning.
Coming out of Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter” a decade ago,
nobody would have picked Aldrich to be one of the show’s standout
performers, let alone the winningest woman on the entire cast, but
here she is. Aldrich moved up from strawweight to flyweight a few
years ago, but even at 125 pounds she can hold her own in terms of
physicality. Unlike many fighters who overcome a speed deficit by
becoming close-quarters grinders,
Aldrich has a disciplined middle-distance kickboxing game that at
its best uses combination punching and ample volume to do damage
and win rounds. She is a decent wrestler and can handle herself on
the mats better than her zero submission wins might imply, but she
is much more successful when she gets the kind of striking battle
she prefers.
Horth is a bit of a late bloomer; actually older than Aldrich but
with half the professional bouts, and while that does not sound
like an advantage, at 36 and 35 respectively, these women are
entering the part of the career line graph where “experience” and
“wear and tear” begin to cross paths. Heading into her bout with
Tereza
Bleda last December, Horth had already overachieved relative to
expectations in the UFC, but she had a bit of a breakout
performance there, showing off stout takedown defense and nasty
finishing instincts in a first-round TKO win.
After that win, her power might not be underrated for much longer,
and along with it she offers good pace and cardio, and great
toughness and tenacity. She employs a basic set of kickboxing
combinations but her power is underrated; most of her opponents
seem surprised by how much it hurts when she hits them. When she
decides to come forward, she is relentless, absorbing some
punishment so that she can get her hands on her foe and go to work,
either with close-range dirty boxing or sneaky takedowns.
This is a closely matched fight, more so than the odds indicate.
Both of these women are tough, skilled and very good at putting
themselves in the best possible position to win. Thus far Aldrich,
as a classic jack (jill?) of all trades, has only lost badly to
women who could outmatch her badly in one phase—say Veronica
Hardy’s speed or Erin
Blanchfield’s offensive wrestling and grappling—and then
dictate a fight on their terms. Horth will not do that, as both
fighters here bring similar tools and favor a broadly similar
fight, and this fight will probably be very competitive for that
reason. The pick is Horth by decision.
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Leblanc vs. Valentin
Boser vs. Saricam
Croden vs. Zheleznyakova
Aldrich vs. Horth
Raposo vs. Nascimento
Castaneda vs. Vologdin
Siraj vs. Yannis
