The MMA Daily

The Co-Main event of the evening comes in the Women’s Flyweight division, as Joanne “Jojo” Wood takes on Alexa Grasso. Having lost two straight and three of the last four, Wood is in desperate need of a win. Still ranked 7th, Wood is positioned in a spot where a title shot isn’t out of the grasp. However, she will need to string together a pair of wins for that to even be possible. Meanwhile, Grasso has won two straight since debuting at Flyweight. With Valentina Shevchenko needing fresh faces to fight against, Grasso has positioned herself right in the title mix. First things first, take out Wood.

As for a prediction, I have Wood winning. While Grasso has looked great at Flyweight and it’s nearly impossible to trust Wood, stylistically I like this fight for the Scottish native. The reason being, Wood has had issues with wrestlers or grapplers with good submission abilities. Grasso is a pure striker that has zero submission victories and has only attempted five takedowns in eight fights inside the octagon. That’s not to say her grappling isn’t good, but more so that she prefers to keep the fight on the feet. A place in which Wood happens to be at her best. Landing 7.28 significant strikes per minute at Flyweight, Wood is in a class of her own. Equipped with excellent cardio, Wood can strike for days. In fact, she has eclipsed 100 total strikes six times. No slouch herself, Grasso is landing nearly 5 strikes per minute. With good cardio and durability, Grasso isn’t one to shy away from a firefight. So with all that said, expect this to be a close striking affair. However, I believe Wood takes it via decision based on her slight edge in output.