Watched Nina vs. Claudia again. Claudia's wrestling coach, assuming she has one, needs to be taken out back and beaten with a rubber hose. It's sad how poor her wrestling is these days, this was the woman who was once blasting Joanna clean off her feet with her double leg and now her shots are literally Eubanks level. Her posture is so bad, she's bending over 45° at the waist from a standing position and running forward into a clinch where she has no concept of what to do with her arms so her opponent breaks free without much trouble. There's no level change, she doesn't drive off with her legs & hips, all the good stuff she used to do is gone. I cannot believe this is the same fighter, it's like someone replaced Claudia with an alien pod person.
As for Nina, she continues to make steady all round improvements. She's picked up some of Joanna's jab & move footwork and used it well to keep Claudia stuck on the outside. Also showed good composure & patience on the ground, she was eating shots from Claudia but using that time to get on one hip, put her legs into play, and then push Claudia off when she overextended with her ground & pound. Also love the 2-touch side kick to the face, put it out as a low kick & touch it off the leg, re-chamber and slam the kick right into the face. That was a sweet move.
I think Nina can beat a lot of contenders in the division, she's a big strong fighter with fundamentally sound technique along with good composure and ability to fight to a game plan. She could be one fight away from a title match.
