Mallory Martin is another short-notice replacement stepping up at UFC Washington, replacing Livia Renata Souza against Virna Jandrioba.
The next UFC event will be coming to Washington D.C. in the Capital One Arena on December 7. The card is headlined by longtime heavyweight Alistair Overeem and the surging Jairzinho Rozenstruik. In a strawweight bout between two Brazilians at UFC on ESPN 7, Livia Renata Souza and Virna Jandiroba were supposed to square off. Unfortunately, Souza had to withdraw and now American Mallory Martin will step in.
5’4″
Strawweight
25-years-old
Denver, Colorado
Tiger Muay Thai & MMA
6-2
2 KO/TKO
1 Submission (Rear-naked Choke)
How will Martin fare in the UFC:
Martin is deserving of this opportunity, a fighter who has fought some solid competition. Her losses are to Sunna Davíðsdóttir and UFC fighter Maycee Barber, but she has wins over girls with a combined record of 22-9-2.
Martin doesn’t have a lot to offer on the feet as she struggles at range. She does make up for it with her aggression, but her head sits still and ideally she needs to take less damage. Martin has good wrestling and is even better once she gets the top position. Ground and pound would be the best aspect of Martin’s fight game. Constantly raining down punches and elbows, her work ethic is all you can ask for in a fighter. If Martin can’t get the takedown she will struggle against a good striker. With that said, her work ethic and cardio will break a lot of girls and should bring her success in the UFC. Prediction: Future top 15.
Striking: C
Kickboxing: C-
Clinch: B
Wrestling: B-
Grappling: B-
Striking Defense: D+
Takedown Defense: B
Cardio: A-
Biggest Strength: Ground-and-Pound
Biggest Weakness: Head movement
How Martin Matches up Jandiroba:
Both Martin and Jandiroba are grapplers/wrestlers with limited striking. Jandiroba is a high-level jiu-jitsu black belt with 11 submission finishes in 14 wins. She’s been nothing short of dominant once the fight hits the ground. The same could be said about Martin as well once she gets on top. It’s really going to be the wrestling of Martin against the BJJ of Jandiroba. These fighters could cancel each other on the mat and if so, there’s a good chance Martin will be the more effective striker. I personally think highly of both these women and for me it’s hard to predict the winner. Jandiroba has a clearer path to victory but Martin has more ways to win.
