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An unranked but battle-tested pair meet at flyweight in the UFC Fight Night main event — the taller Brazilian against the more experienced Venezuelan southpaw.
The UFC returns to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Saturday, 18 July, and the women’s flyweight headliner pits Veronica Hardy against Dione Barbosa. Neither woman carries a divisional ranking, so this is a proving-ground main event: a chance for one of them to make a statement in the 125-pound picture. On paper it is a close, contrasting matchup, which is exactly why it belongs in your prediction slip.
Hardy, out of Venezuela, brings a 10-5-1 record into the cage — 16 professional fights, the deepest résumé in this pairing and the only one of the two with a draw on the ledger. Barbosa, the Brazilian who fights under the nickname “The Witch,” is 9-4-0 across 13 bouts. Both are seasoned; both have tasted defeat and kept climbing.
The most obvious advantage on the tape belongs to Barbosa in the size department. She stands two inches taller and carries two inches more reach, 66 inches to 64. In a striking exchange that length can dictate range — the longer fighter often controls the distance and lands first if she uses it well. If Barbosa fights tall and long, she can turn this into her fight.
Hardy answers with youth and mileage. At 30 she is four years younger than the 34-year-old Barbosa, and she owns the busier career — 16 pro bouts to 13, including that lone draw. More rounds logged can mean more scars and more solutions when a fight gets rough. Her southpaw stance is the other wrinkle: against Barbosa’s orthodox base this becomes an open-stance duel, the kind that scrambles timing, lead-hand battles and angles for both women.
The fight sits on a genuine seesaw. Do you back Barbosa’s reach and height to keep Hardy on the end of her strikes, or do you trust Hardy’s extra experience, younger legs and the awkward southpaw look to close that gap and drag the taller woman into deep water? With neither fighter ranked, there is no favorite handed to you by the rankings — you are reading the tape yourself.
Watch the range battle early: if Barbosa establishes her jab and keeps Hardy reaching, the size gap grows. If Hardy steps inside that reach and makes it a phone-booth fight, her volume and experience come alive. The open-stance chess — lead foot outside, lead hands trading — will tell you within a round who is winning the timing.
Two unranked flyweights, a real size-versus-experience split, and a headliner with no easy call. Who takes it on paper — the longer Brazilian or the busier Venezuelan? Lock in your prediction in the app before the walkouts.