Preview: UFC Des Moines Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

Ivana Petrovic (7-2, 1-2 UFC) vs. Juliana Miller (3-3, 1-2 UFC)

ODDS: Petrovic (-230), Miller (+190)

Miller might be on her last chance to make an impact. She was a standout personality on the 2022 season of “The Ultimate Fighter” before winning the flyweight bracket—a minor surprise since “Killer” had a game that seemed to function on aggression and little else. However, it was hard to argue with her results on the season, so there was some intrigue as to how Miller would fare going forward. As it turns out, she has hit a wall at the UFC level, mostly thanks to her lack of strength and athleticism. Veronica Hardy was a much quicker fighter and able to hang with Miller on the mat, while Luana Santos managed to go punch-for-punch with her and score a knockout once things devolved into a brawl. It has now been over a year and a half since Miller was last in action, so perhaps she has reworked things in the meantime, since Petrovic figures to be another tough out. Petrovic had a solid regional career that looked better on paper than on film. She wasn’t terrible in any particular facet, but a lot of Petrovic’s success relied on her size and durability allowing her to outlast more potent opposition down the stretch after some rough starts. Her UFC career has followed that trend. She eventually overwhelmed one-round submission specialist Na Liang, while fights against Luana Carolina and Jamey-Lyn Horth saw her lose— albeit closely against Horth—in pairings that had a lot more athletic parity. Miller might be aggressive enough to snipe this given the Norwegian’s preferred slow pace, but this looks to be much more in the mold of Petrovic’s wins against less consistent opposition. The pick is Petrovic via decision.

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Santos vs. Tate
Bekoev vs. Loder
Robertson vs. Rodriguez
Bolanos vs. Le
Petersen vs. Mayes
Petrovic vs. Miller