Point of interest: Jiu-jitsu driver’s seat
In a battle between two aggressive jiu-jitsu brown belts, I will be curious to see who gets to the driver’s seat first, as well as who can avoid having the steering wheel stolen from them.
Both women are solid clinch fighters who can strike and wrestle in close quarters.
Macfarlane, who is not opposed to opting for a Thai clinch, throws everything from knees to slicing elbows in close, but Jackson – despite seldom securing a traditional Thai plum – shows a knack for finding heavy knees in tight spaces.
Jackson’s judo sensibilities also shine through when working in this space, as she seems to prefer foraging for takedowns from tie-up positions, especially against the fence.
Thankfully for Macfarlane, the clinch seems to be a theme that, more often than not, tends to materialize in a positive way throughout most of her fights. Whether she is looking to establish connections in the open or utilizing her underrated wrestling along the cage, Macfarlane sticks to her opposition and the objective at hand.
The champion can also hit reactive shots in the open, which may give her an edge in the takedown department. But even if Macfarlane is the one who ends up on top, she cannot afford to sleep on the transitional skills of her English counterpart.
Jackson, who is not foreign to being on the bottom in her fights, shows a solid repertoire that helps keep her safe. The 33-year-old fighter demonstrates a decent butterfly guard to go along with her single-leg sweep savvy (using it in a similar fashion to Demian Maia).
Once topside, Jackson shows a ferocity to her flow that’s hard to match – and god forbid you allow her to get to mount. If Jackson doesn’t get distracted by a submission attempt along the way, then she’ll usually work toward a mounted position so that she can treat her opponent’s head like a pinata that can only be opened by elbows.
Macfarlane, as seen in her last outing, is more than familiar with that sort of trade, which makes me even more curious as to how their grappling styles will clash.
Hailing from the 10th Planet jiu-jitsu system, Macfarlane displays an unorthodox but effective way of maneuvering through positions, reminding us that the craft of a high-guard game is something to respect in MMA. Macfarlane also works very well from topside, showing mean transitional chops and the ability to sink her hips into a mount or back-mount position as soon as she sees daylight for it.
I’m expecting grappling stanzas to be a bit chaotic at first but suspect that one of the two fighters will eventually find themselves getting to better and better positions as this bout wears on.
Next point of interest: Odds, opinion and prediction