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Pannie Kianzad vs. Julija Stoliarenko
The women's featherweight division is up this week, with Team Gastelum's Pannie Kianzad taking on Julija Stoliarenko from Team Whittaker. In terms of matchup, this fight is the classic “striker versus grappler” showdown.
Kianzad is well versed on the feet, with solid power but mostly a fundamentally sound striking attack with both her boxing and kickboxing. Kianzad isn't a flashy fighter, so don't expect her to uncork many spinning backfists or wheel kicks, but she knows how to stand in the pocket and exchange with her opponents while landing stinging combinations.
On the flipside, Stoliarenko is a ground specialist with a long list of victims who have succumbed to her submission skills. Stoliarenko showed in her last fight that she's also got an incredible chin, so she can take a punch if that's what it takes to get the fight into her world on the ground.
Prior to the featherweights determining the first finalist, Maurice Greene will once again become a focal point of an episode after a season filled with incidents involving the heavyweight fighter. Sadly, up until now, Greene has made a lot of promises but hasn't really followed through to appease his teammates, coaches and fellow roommates. That might all change this week as Greene continues to spiral out of control, and with his fight only a week away, it might take a full blown intervention from his team and coaches to finally get him back on track.
Elsewhere this week, coaches Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum will treat their teams to a little rest and relaxation with a break from training by taking everybody to a water park in Las Vegas for some fun in the sun and then follow that up with a night out for sushi.
