Melissa Mullins

Picked against as a heavy underdog against a superior grappler in a similar stylistic lane.

A primary grappler who can also strike. Decent striker with a good, accurate jab and a lot of volume -- rated as having the better jab of the two in this specific matchup -- but her striking defense is very poor and her head movement is essentially nonexistent. Decent takedowns, and once the fight hits the mat she has good top pressure and does well from knee-on-belly, landing a lot of volume in ground and pound.

Framed explicitly as a 'whoever imposes their gameplan wins' style clash, with the lean toward Mullins built more on home-country factors and a recent grappling-focused stretch than a clear in-cage skill edge.

Mullins is a below-average defensive striker — she doesn't move her head and rarely blocks, which makes a pure kickboxing match a losing proposition for her here. Her path runs through the mat instead: functional takedowns capable of getting her opponent down, strong top pressure that turns especially dangerous from knee-on-belly, and heavy ground-and-pound volume once she's on top. A recent grappling-tournament appearance suggests she's leaning into that identity for this fight, and a home-turf edge doesn't hurt either.