This should be a solid enough fight, mostly centered around whether
or not Clark can get back on track. “Jessy Jess” got on the greater
MMA radar early in her career with her Invicta Fighting
Championships debut in 2015, but she was hard to peg for a few
years. She could do a little bit of everything but was not much of
an athlete and did not have a consistent approach to her game,
leading to a series of close fights and what felt like a clear
ceiling. However, during the pandemic era of the UFC, even while
Clark suffered some injury layoffs, the Australian seemed to
finally channel things into a clearer gameplan. Now committed to
bantamweight on a full-time basis, Clark bulked up and was able to
make do as a strong and solid pressure fighter with a particular
focus on wrestling. That led her to dominant wins over Sarah Alpar
and Joselyne
Edwards, even if the latter was an interminable control-heavy
affair. However, things suddenly went south in February against
Stephanie
Egger, as Clark charged right into the submission skills that
serve as Egger’s biggest strength. Clark looks to rebound from the
first defeat via finish in her career, and she gets a similar
challenge in Stoliarenko. Lithuania’s Stoliarenko had a one-fight
stint—she lost to Leah
Letson—in the UFC following her appearance on “The Ultimate
Fighter” in 2018. Before and after, most of Stoliarenko’s success
came via first-round armbar finishes, until she got the UFC call
once again in 2020. Stoliarenko has done well to at least be a
willing brawler who can gut through punishment, and she does seem
to be rounding things out from fight to fight. That has not
garnered her much success in the UFC to date, but it could mean she
closes the gap enough against Clark to eke out a win. Still,
Stoliarenko only looks to have one clear path to victory, and Clark
seems like the type of fighter to learn from the submission loss
rather than leave that type of opening once again. It could be
grimy, but the pick is Clark via decision.
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