UFC News & FeaturesWomen’s Flyweights
Luana Carolina (11-4, 6-3 UFC) vs. Montana De La Rosa (13-9-1, 6-5-1 UFC)ODDS: Carolina (-142), De La Rosa (+120)
Carolina has had a surprisingly successful UFC career thus far, winning six of her nine trips to the Octagon and riding a three-fight winning streak, but it’s a bit unsurprising that the Brazilian has gone under the radar. She has found most of her success as a neutralizer, and her few losses have mostly gone south in spectacular fashion, most notably in a spinning back elbow knockout loss to Molly McCann. Carolina came to the UFC as a raw striker who seemed entirely unready for a step up in competition. She reacted quite poorly in the face of adversity, and it’s a testament to Carolina’s size and toughness that she was able to find some wins as she learned on the job. Carolina has now come out the other size of her evolution as almost the opposite fighter from her initial scouting report. She doesn’t do a whole lot to dictate the terms of her fights but is instead most notable for what she prevents her opponents from doing. Her size and reach are enough for a lot of opponents to have second thoughts about closing distance on the feet, and Carolina’s length has made it difficult for them to control her on the mat, with the Brazilian often reversing things and coasting out a grind herself. She looks to make it four straight against De La Rosa, who has had some obvious issues but is also a clear step up from most of Carolina’s recent victims. Initially a wrestler by trade, De La Rosa was an interesting prospect when she hit the UFC in 2017, and she has done well to develop a solid striking game to round out those skills. That development has failed to result in much consistent success for two reasons. De La Rosa now probably spends more time striking than she should at the expense of her best skills, and she has generally run into a clear speed and athleticism deficit that has given her a clear ceiling in the flyweight division. At the very least, she can plug away for three tough rounds and has developed enough to turn a loss to Andrea Lee in 2019 into a win in a 2024 rematch, but it’s hard to see a massive run coming for De La Rosa even if she’s an effective gatekeeper. De La Rosa might be just enough of a step up as a wrestler to finally crack open Carolina’s game for the first time in a while, but it’s hard to trust the American to fight a maximally effective fight. Even if she does, Carolina has proven unwieldy enough in recent years to earn the benefit of the doubt. The pick is Carolina via decision.
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Carolina vs. De La Rosa
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