UFC Fight Night 174: Lewis vs. Oleinik - Predictions and Picks

#4 UFC Bantamweight Division: Yana Kunitskaya vs. Julija Stoliarenko

Former title challenger Yana Kunitskaya is 2-2 in the UFC

Once considered the ‘glamour’ division for female fighters in the UFC, Bantamweight is now one of the thinner divisions in the promotion. Champion Amanda Nunes has basically beaten everyone there is to beat. And this means that even lesser contenders might be just a couple of fights away from a UFC title shot.

You’d have to class these two fighters among those lesser contenders. Of the two, Kunitskaya has far more experience at this level. The current beau of UFC Light-Heavyweight contender Thiago Santos, ‘Foxy’ debuted in the UFC back in 2018.

It wasn’t the most ideal debut for her, either. She came in on late notice and moved up to 145lbs to challenge then-champion Cris Cyborg. Naturally, it didn’t go well. The Russian did land a takedown on the champ, but Cyborg quickly turned the tables and beat her down en route to a first-round TKO.

Since then, Kunitskaya has gone 2-1 at 135lbs. A striker who’s willing to grapple and grind out an opponent from the clinch, she defeated Lina Lansberg and Marion Reneau, only to fall to the wild aggression of Aspen Ladd in her last fight.

Stoliarenko, meanwhile, is returning to the UFC as the reigning Invicta Bantamweight champion. She’s fought in the UFC before – a run at 145lbs on TUF 28 saw her fall to Pannie Kianzad, and she then lost to Leah Letson on the finale.

Since then she’s gone 5-0 and captured the Invicta title in her last bout. It’s worth noting though that the Invicta titles don’t mean what they once did. Most of the top female talent is now in the UFC already, meaning any Invicta titleholders quickly get hoovered up by the bigger promotion.

Based on the admittedly little I’ve seen, I’m favoring Kunitskaya here. Stoliarenko is more of a grappler, and while Ladd did take out ‘Foxy’ on the ground, she’s also a far superior wrestler and got Kunitskaya down by knocking her down with punches.

For Stoliarenko to take Kunitskaya down, she’s going to have to step right into the Russian’s wheelhouse – the clinch. And that’s worrying given the strength of Kunitskaya in that area and her own ability to use takedowns as well as nasty elbows and knees.

I’m not convinced that this will be an entertaining bout as Kunitskaya’s previous two wins weren’t easy on the eye. However, I’m confident that she’s got enough to grind out a decision win here.

The Pick: Kunitskaya via unanimous decision