Aldrich appears to be a low volume striker to me. A left hand power shot is the only thing she does, and I really don't see much power there. Barber is much more active and tends to throw quite a few kicks. Barber easily has strength and athleticism advantage. Barber has elbows from the clinch and killer elbows from top position. Barber can get the fight down with clinches and body locks. Barber is moving up to 125 after diet issues at 115. She supposedly was never fighting close to her potential because she was at such a calorie deficit with her diet. Aldrich is also moving up for some reason even though she wasn't a very big 115lber.
I agree that buying into prospect hype is a mistake, especially on a young unproven fighter. But I think that is more relevant in male fighters. Not trying to be sexist, but the lack of power and sometimes downright lack of skill in women's mma makes it easier to bet on an inexperienced fighter. There usually isn't as high of a chance of a better fighter getting caught and ko'd like there is with male fighters. I think the talent pool for female fighters is so small that there is still a huge disparity in talent between top female fighters and mid/low level fighters. I see this as one of those scenarios.
And the other option is I'm f*cking way off on this and will come back with my tail between my legs wishing I had listened to you!!
I agree that buying into prospect hype is a mistake, especially on a young unproven fighter. But I think that is more relevant in male fighters. Not trying to be sexist, but the lack of power and sometimes downright lack of skill in women's mma makes it easier to bet on an inexperienced fighter. There usually isn't as high of a chance of a better fighter getting caught and ko'd like there is with male fighters. I think the talent pool for female fighters is so small that there is still a huge disparity in talent between top female fighters and mid/low level fighters. I see this as one of those scenarios.
And the other option is I'm f*cking way off on this and will come back with my tail between my legs wishing I had listened to you!!