Istela Nunes and Sam “Sampage” Hughes lead us into the exciting prelims for UFC fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2. A step down in pace from the first fight of the night, we’re looking at two WMMA fighters coming off of losses, so it’s a high stake matchup with contracts potentially on the line. How does it play out?
Istela Nunes vs Sam Hughes Prediction
Nunes is a hands down striker with a nasty clinch game, she’s found relative success in ONE Championship, only being defeated by the promotion’s own champion. Nunes has had susceptibility to aggressive grapplers, and sometimes gives herself up for takedowns by being too lazy with her leg kicks. She has a deceptively lanky frame for 5’4, so how could she fare against the taller grappler in Sam Hughes?
Sam Hughes has had a pretty dreadful run in the UFC so far, going 0-3 in the promotion. To be fair to Hughes, she was thrown to the wolves immediately, debuting against Tecia Torres and suffering a horrific eye injury that got the fight called off.
Hughes is a good grappler, though not on the same level as the fighters that have defeated Nunes. She had trouble against the much smaller fighter in Loma Lookboonmee, and we can expect her to find the same results against Nunes in this fight as well.
I expect Istela Nunes to chop at Hughes’ legs and deny any grappling opportunities with her superior clinch game.
My pick – Istela Nunes by unanimous decision
Istela Nunes vs Sam Hughes Betting Suggestion
Istela Nunes is a considerable favourite, sitting at 5/11 to win the fight out right. Your safest bet is to pick Nunes to win out right at these odds, since a finish is unlikely. Per Bet365
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