The MMA Daily

The curtain jerker comes in the Women’s Featherweight division, as Joselyne “La Pantera” Edwards takes on Ramona Pascual. Returning to the octagon for the first time in 2022, Edwards will seek to end a two-fight skid. Having exclusively fought at Bantamweight, Edwards makes the trek up to Featherweight hoping to find a jolt. Meanwhile, Pascual comes into this fight off an unsuccessful UFC debut. A fight where Pascual showed incredible toughness, but just couldn’t find a way to effectively wrestle and smother Josiane Nunes. Previous to the defeat, Pascual had won four straight.

When Pascual debuted against the aforementioned Nunes, I did not think she would see the scorecards. Prior to the debut, Pascual had seen six of her seven fights halted inside the distance. She had also fought a low level of competition, as her opponents combined for a mere 10-9 record. However, Pascual faired better than thought, showing off toughness and some wrestling abilities. The latter being key, particularly for this fight, as Edwards has been exploited several times for her porous takedown defense. In the Panamanian’s last two fights, she has been taken down nine times and controlled for roughly twenty-three minutes. Given she is making the jump up in weight and Pascual is built for the Featherweight division, there is a realistic chance that Edwards could yet again be neutralized on the ground.

As for a prediction, I’m going with Pascual. Even though Edwards holds an advantage on the feet, mainly with her reach and volume edge, I can’t see how the weight disadvantage is going to her aid her ghastly takedown defense and inability to get back to her feet. So with that said, perhaps against my better judgement, I predict that Pascual wins via decision.