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Contender Series Week 5: Bruno Lopes vs. Brendson Ribeiro kicks off the fight card with a bout in the women's bantamweight division between Dione Barbosa and Rainn Guerrero. Barbosa has won two fights in a row meanwhile, Guerrero is coming off four consecutive wins coming into her debut on the Contender Series. That said, check out our UFC odds series for our Barbosa-Guerrero prediction and pick.
Dione Barbosa (5-2) is a product of the Legacy Fighting Championship women's bantamweight division winning two of her three fights with the promotion and winning her last two fights coming into this short notice opportunity. She will take her momentum into this matchup against Rainn Guerrero in an attempt to impress Dana White and the UFC brass to get that coveted UFC contract.
Rainn Guerrero (5-1) is a former Fury Fighting Championship contender who has won each of her last four fights. She was originally scheduled to face off against Canadian Corinne Laframboise but she ultimately had to withdraw from the bout. Now, Guerrero will be attempting to secure a UFC contract this Tuesday night when she takes on Dione Barbosa on this week's episode of the Contender Series.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Contender Series Week 5 Odds: Dione Barbosa-Rainn Guerrero Odds
Dione Barbosa: -330
Rainn Guerrero: +235
How to Watch Dione Barbosa vs. Rainn Guerrero
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT
Why Dione Barbosa Will Win
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Dione Barbosa and Rainn Guerrero will face off in the girls' bantamweight division on this week's episode of the Contender Series. Barbosa has a strong ground game, with two of her wins coming by submission. In contrast, Guerrero has only one submission victory on her record. She has a 5-2 record in MMA and is currently on a two-fight win streak. In contrast, Guerrero has a 3-3 record in MMA. Barbosa's grappling will be the key for her to be victorious in this Tuesday night Contender Series matchup.
Barbosa has more experience in MMA than Guerrero against higher-level opposition. She has fought in various promotions, which include LFA. Her grappling prowess was on full display during her time as an LFA competitor and against that level of competition and now going against a Texas native in Guerrero who's only had one fight for Fury Fighting Championship certainly gives her the leg up coming into the biggest opportunity of her short MMA career.
Why Rainn Guerrero Will Win
Guerrero has shown significant improvement in her striking skills as she has grown progressively during her time as a professional mixed martial artist. Guerrero was getting ready to fight Canadian Corinne Laframboise who also was another submission specialist so the change of opponent should not affect her approach coming into this fight.
Guerrero is one of those hard-nosed fighters who are just looking to come forward, throw some hands, and just make it a dirty dogfight from start to finish. This will arguably be the toughest fight of Guerrero's career but not one that she can't overcome and potentially cause a massive upset as long as she brings the fight and the tenacity to Barbosa and just lays it all on the line.
Final Dione Barbosa-Rainn Guerrero & Pick
This should be a great fight between these two evenly-matched bantamweight fighters. Barbosa may be coming into this fight on short notice but is one that she should arguably have in the bag as long as the size of Guerrero doesn't make that much of a difference. Barbosa has fought at both flyweight and bantamweight but looking at the size difference she is more suited to fight at flyweight if she were to get signed by the UFC.
With that said, Barbosa seems to be the fighter that is better put together. She's quick and fast on the feet with some good combinations and she does well at mixing in the takedowns which is why she should have the upper hand in this matchup against Guerrero. While Guerrero is no slouch on the mat, she certainly will be looking to keep this fight standing at all costs. It will be up to Guerrero's takedown defense to hold up and to keep this fight on the feet and at her distance if she wants to get that coveted UFC contract. Unfortunately, it's going to be hard for Guerrero to not get taken down here against Barbosa and then eventually dominated to the point where she either gets submitted or gets dominated for a unanimous decision victory.
Final Dione Barbosa-Rainn Guerrero & Pick: Dione Barbosa (-330)
