Introduction
Sunday, December 29th, Norwegian bantamweight prospect Cecilie Bolander will be in action for Oktagon, where she will be looking to jump back into the win column against Sara Luzar Smajic. She will be looking for another win, as Bolander looks to inch closer toward a potential UFC contract. He represents Norwegian Top Team, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Submission Grappling: Bolander is a tremendous grappler with good wrestling and physical strength. She will get her opponents down quickly, and from there, get to work on ending the fight in quick fashion. Between her eight-fight ammy career and current four-fight pro career, she has submitted nine opponents. They have all been by way of armbar, her signature finish. Of those submissions, all but one of them have come in the first round. She clearly has world-class grappling on the mat.
Toughness: If Bolander does not finish the fight quickly, which she has done more time than naught in her pro/ammy career, she has shown she can get into dog fights and not quit. In her last two fights against Lucie Pudilova and Nina Milosevic, they were both close bouts that went the distance and showed the heart and grit of Bolander. If you can’t put her away, she will stick around and make the fight hell for you.
Needs Improvement
Striking Defense: Her lone pro loss to UFC veteran Lucie Pudilova, which was her latest outing, showed her weakness in striking defense. Although she used her aforementioned toughness, never gave up, and lost narrowly to Pudilova on the scorecards, she was touched early and often on the feet. She was a bloody mess in the first round. That said, she ate those shots, came forward and never gave up. However, her inability to keep her head off the center, defend strikes and avoid damage was ultimately what lost her that fight against a tough, seasoned fighter like Pudilova.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: Bolander is immensely talented, there is no doubt about that. For her to have fought two-stint UFC veteran Pudilova in Bolander’s fourth professional fight and competed in such a spirited manner where she only lost a split decision shows her future is very bright. She’s still young and developing, so in a few years, especially with how thin the talent is at women’s 135, she could be a major player in the division. I definitely see her making the UFC in the next couple of years and making an impression there.
MMA Intel 