Opening up the card at UFC 276, Jessica Rose Clark will look to bounce back from a disappointing outing last time out when she faces Julia Stoliarenko. The two bantamweights are both desperate for a win with Clark wanting to reclaim past form and Stoliarenko looking to hold on to her place in the UFC after beginning her promotional career with three straight losses. Clark will enter the fight as a favourite and will look to carry the bookies confidence into the fight.
Soon my love ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZntSko9Pvv
— Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) May 22, 2022
The UFC 276 card is headlined by Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier who will battle for the middleweight belt. The co-main event sees the trilogy between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway where the Australian will finally look to put their rivalry to bed with a third straight victory over the Hawaiian.
Recapturing Lost Form
Jessica Rose Clark looked the best she’s ever looked against Sarah Alpar back in September 2020. She was coming off two straight losses and looked to be on the brink of being cut by the UFC. She returned against Alpar and looked savage, dominant and brutal throughout. Notching her first UFC finish and first finish since 2014, Clark brutalised Alpar. She outlanded her opponent 124 – 26 on her way to a third-round finish. The finish itself was strange as she landed a perfectly legal knee, dropping Alpar against the fence, however, the referee stepped in to manage the fight due to a potential foul. Alpar was clearly on her feet when the knee landed and ultimately it didn’t effect the outcome of the fight itself.
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Next time out, we saw a far more wrestling-heavy approach from Clark, who out-grappled her opponent, Joselyne Edwards. Having been out due to injury, Clark clocked up a total of 11:40 control time over the 15 minutes, completely nullifying any attacks from Edwards and cruising to a unanimous decision victory. Although it wasn’t the most entertaining fight, Clark got it done and did so in a dominant fashion.
Her most recent fight was certainly a step backwards. She faced Stephanie Eggar at UFC Vegas 48, however, things didn’t go to plan for the Aussie. We gave you an idea as to how Clark could get the upper hand, however, she wasn’t able to get going against Eggar. She looked to clinch with Eggar, who got the upper hand and was able to hip throw Clark twice, leading eventually to an armbar finish.
Clark will look to get back to her ‘Alpar – Edwards’ form at UFC 276 when she faces Stoliarenko. Stoliarenko will likely look to keep the fight standing, landing just 0.25 takedowns per 15 minutes with an accuracy of just 12%. She lands fewer strikes than Clark at 2.68 to Clark’s 3.95 and absorbs more with 4.20 against Clark’s 3.56. Clark is a brilliant striker, especially in Muay Thai range and expect her to try and utilise the clinch, as this appears to be a weakness in Stoliarenko’s game.
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