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| Jessamyn Duke |
This afternoon, Glenn Gordon of the Glendale News-Press reported that Jessamyn Duke vs Leslie Smith has been added to UFC Fight Night July 16 in Atlantic City. This should be a close fight. Both like to strike so I don't expect any ground work from them though Leslie is capable on the ground. Jessamyn is now training at Glendale Fight Club in Los Angeles with Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. The UFC obviously saw some things they liked about Jessamyn in TUF18. But she didn't look very good a few months ago when she lost to Bethe Correia. So this could be a pivotal fight for Jessamyn because if she doesn't perform well, they will start wondering what is wrong with her. I think she psyched herself out. Fighting can be as much of a mental game as it is physical. And trainer Edmond Tarverdyan didn't help when he told her after round two that the fight was close. She needed to fight with urgency and she just didn't do it. Despite her 6-5-1 record, Leslie Smith is a tough opponent and she likes to fight tough opponents. She trains at Gracie in Los Angeles. I think she has improved a lot since I first saw her in Bellator in 2009. Though she lost to Sarah Kaufman in April, Leslie deserves a lot of credit for stepping up on short notice. With a full training camp, I think we will see the real Leslie Smith in this fight. As I said, they both like to strike. But neither has KO power so I expect a close fight and possibly a split decision.
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