Preview: UFC 316 Prelims

Women's Flyweights
Ariane Lipski da Silva (17-10) vs. Cong Wang (7-1)
Odds: Wang (-500), da Silva (+380)

Things could yet work out for Wang. Wang was one of the UFC's most interesting signings of 2024, a Chinese kickboxer that seemed to be a quick study for the other aspects of mixed martial arts; her contract-earning win was set up to be an obvious showcase, but it was still impressive to see "The Joker" end things with a submission. And like some other recent kickboxing converts that made it to the UFC, Wang's rise up the ladder came with a built-in storyline, as she bested then-past and now-current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing right before Shevchenko's UFC debut. Wang's UFC debut saw her obliterate Victoria Leonardo, and things seemed to be headed down a similar path against Gabriella Fernandes this past November - but Wang got a bit reckless hunting for the finish, getting clipped before Fernandes jumped on a shocking fight-ending submission. The worry was that the loss could permanently derail Wang's momentum, but things have righted themselves in short order; Wang was back in the cage less than three months later and put together a patient but effective performance against Bruna Brasil. There's no point in slow-playing Wang, so she gets a chance to break into the UFC's rankings here against Brazil's Lipski da Silva, who's seemingly perennially on the verge of a major breakthrough. Da Silva came into the UFC in 2019 amid a rightful amount of hype; after a strong international career, the hope was that she could quickly make a charge towards title contender status. Instead, "The Queen of Violence" accomplished little besides living up to her nickname, as her focus on offense walked her into a lot of brawls where her lack of defense would come back to bite her. After a few rough lessons, da Silva's now in a much more patient form that's allowed her to dominate given a clear athletic advantage, but now might actually be too passive if anything; her last two losses to Karine Silva and Jasmine Jasudavicius weren't the type of implosions da Silva could suffer in the past, but she also never gained much momentum while feeling things out in either of those fights. It feels like da Silva's still mentally overcompensating from her previous defeats, but at 31 years old, there's still the chance that she suddenly turns the corner and winds up taking the long road towards realizing her potential. If that happens here, this becomes fascinating, particularly since da Silva can provide a level of wrestling and grappling threat that Wang has yet to prove herself against; but for now, it's hard not to side with Wang's much clearer focus on what she's trying to do along with the fact that she's likely to be the harder shot-for-shot hitter. The pick is Wang via decision.

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