Today the UFC announced on the UFC Europe Twitter account that Claudia Gadelha will face Karolina Kowalkiewicz on UFC 212 June 3 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The winner of this fight is likely to get a title shot against either Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Jessica Andrade. Those two will fight on UFC 211 May 13 in Dallas. I expect Claudia vs Karolina to air on the main card of UFC 212. Both women have lost title shots to Joanna by unanimous decision. After Claudia lost to Joanna in July, she left her long time gym Nova Uniao and trainer Andre Pederneiras. Claudia felt her training camp was too long and that led to her lack of endurance in the five round title fight. Claudia has opened her own gym in Philadelphia. For her Nov. win over Cortney Casey, Claudia trained with long time coach Jair Lourenco at Nova Uniao in Sao Paulo. My guess is she will train there again. The problem I see with Claudia is she doesn't finish fights anymore. She last finished a fight in 2013. This is why endurance has become an issue. She didn't need it early in her career. I think she has gone away from what made her successful early in her career. She seems to fight more conservatively. If she goes back to her old ways, it could be a problem for Karolina who is mostly a points fighter. She is counting on her opponent lacking aggression so she can outpoint her. Karolina is a kickboxer with no power but her defense is solid. This allows her to hang in fights and eke out wins. Though Joanna beat her easily, Joanna fought too conservatively to get a finish. That's why Karolina is still a top contender and could get another title shot if she wins this fight. You all know I hate points fighters. So I like Claudia if she's aggressive and goes for a finish. If she doesn't, all bets are off.
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