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Contender Series Week 7: Shamil Gaziev vs. Greg Velasco continues with a bout in the strawweight division between Stephanie Luciano and Talita Alencar. Bruna comes into this fight on the heels of a two-fight winning streak as she comes into her Contender Series debut meanwhile, Alencar is an undefeated prospect who has won four straight fights coming into her debut on the Contender Series. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Bruna-Alencar prediction and pick.
Stephanie Luciano (5-1) is a Brazilian strawweight prospect who is coming two consecutive victories into the biggest fight of her career this Tuesday night on the Contender Series. Luciano is coming off beating an undefeated prospect in Karina Aryadne for the Jungle Fight Strawweight Championship and will be looking to take another undefeated fighter's perfect record when she takes on Talita Alencar this Tuesday night.
Talita Alencar (4-0) is an undefeated Brazilian prospect who fights out of Miami, Florida training out of Fight Sports Miami with head coach Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu who is one of the most well-known Jiu Jitsu World Champions. Alencar herself is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and world champion and will be looking to score the biggest win of her career against her toughest competition Stephanie Luciano on this week's episode of the Contender Series.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Contender Series Week 7 Odds: Stephanie Luciano-Talita Alencar Odds
Stephanie Luciano: +180
Talita Alencar: -235
How to Watch Stephanie Luciano vs. Talita Alencar
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT
Why Stephanie Luciano Will Win
Stephanie Luciano is the third and final Brazilian prospect on this week's episode of the Contender Series. She was the Jungle Fight strawweight before she relinquished the title for her chance to fight in the UFC. Bruna also fought for LFA when she took on one of their top flyweight prospects Michele Oliveira where she won via split decision. Now, Luciano is riding a two-fight winning streak most recently beating yet another undefeated prospect like she gets this Tuesday with Talita Alencar.
Talita Alencar is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion and will be a significant threat if this fight does hit the mat but she has to get it there to be successful. Luciano showed in the past that she's been able to sprawl and brawl her way to victory which is something she must do to get the big upset victory and the possible UFC contract.
Why Talita Alencar Will Win
Talita Alencar has been knocking on the door of the UFC ever since making her professional MMA debut in 2021 where she got the rear-naked choke win as she made a name for herself in just her first fight. The Brazilian Jiu Jits black belt and world champion won three consecutive fights since her MMA debut with two of those three victories coming by submission. If Alencar makes it to the biggest MMA promotion she will come in as one of the most accomplished Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the strawweight division.
Luciano is by far the most experienced fighter Alencar has faced in her young MMA career who's faced much better competition as well. She is best suited to win this fight on the feet and at range where she should be able to punish Alencar as she is able to close the distance to take the fight to the mat. The thing is Luciano will need to be absolutely perfect and one slip-up on the fight ends up on the mat that could be all she wrote for Luciano.
Final Stephanie Luciano-Talita Alencar Prediction & Pick
This should be a fun scrap between Stephanie Luciano and Talita Alencar. Bruna is as tough as they come and was even able to survive the grappling of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Michele Oliveira and win the fight the portions they were on the feet. Luciano also will have a big size advantage over the smaller Alencar which will be very troublesome for the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion. While Alencar has made strides and progressed from fight to fight, this should be a big step up in competition and one that she certainly will not win unless she gets the fight to the mat.
Ultimately, Alencar will be looking to push the pace and be the aggressor just to get on the inside of the reach of Luciano where she will attempt to take her down but once she isn't able to complete the takedown and take the fight into her wheelhouse Luciano will start to take over and punish Alencar down the stretch to get the win and a UFC contract.
Final Stephanie Bruna-Talita Alencar Prediction & Pick: Stephanie Luciano (+180)
