Irina Alekseeva vs Stephanie Egger Prediction: Won't win, but Have a Decent Fight

At midnight on April 30, Russian MMA fighter Irina Alekseeva will fight her first fight at the UFC. Her opponent is an experienced Swiss fighter, Stephanie Egger. The bout will take place in the lightest weight category. 

Irina Alekseeva came to MMA from unarmed combat, where she won the World, European and Russian Championships. Also, she had been on the national judo team. She is left-handed and has always been known for her excellent technique in wrestling. Irina finds herself fully prepared for the UFC. In the United States, she is assisted by Sergey Spivak and Marina Mokhnatkina to prepare. Irina also appreciates her striking technique, as fights in her youth gave a solid impetus for fighting skills and character development. In professional mixed martial arts, she has not had many fights yet, but she has managed to fight in four leagues - RCC, WTKF, Pro FC, and Bellator. In her last bout on Bellator 269, Irina won by judges' decision over Stephanie Page (5-2 record at the time) and was offered by the UFC.

Egger has fought in the UFC five times (three wins and two losses), and there were no big names among her opponent. Stephanie is quite versatile, with an emphasis on wrestling as well, and in her last fight, she beat by submission Ailin Perez (7-1).

Both fighters came into MMA from wrestling, but Irina will still try to work in the standings. Honestly, we don't really believe she'll win as she hasn't fought at this level yet. She can't dominate in the parterre. Egger will quietly drag the bout and probably win on points. But in such fights, the referees count them as God's will, so we do not rule out a victory for the Russians. That might happen if she has enough physique and concentration till the final buzzer.

We expect a boring showdown on the ground, where the rivals will try not to make a mistake. In the standing, Alekseeva could cope with emotions and lead the fight cold-bloodedly.