Can Erin Blanchfield stop Manon Fiorot?

Considering Blanchfield’s on-paper edges and opportunistic submission acumen, no one should be shocked if the American looks for takedowns early and often.

Since storming onto the scene as the first female EBI flyweight champion, Blanchfield has only continued to grow her grappling abilities in mixed martial arts.

Appearing to be an avid driller in the wrestling realm, Blanchfield sequences her attacks like second nature, chaining particularly well from single-leg positions. Whether Blanchfield is sweeping the standing leg or looking to double off into a more traditional shot, the American is certainly not short on ideas in this space.

Once she’s able to secure top position off of takedowns, Blanchfield’s brand of high-percentage choices continues to show itself on the floor. From cross-wrist rides that lead to pins to kimura traps that allow for positional advances, Blanchfield displays a bevy of high-level tactics that she regularly puts to practice in her fights.

In fact, if you look back at Blanchfield’s last three decision wins before her last fight, you’ll see that her steady passing process almost scored a finish at multiple points (with opponents arguably being saved by the bell).

Nevertheless, I warn anyone who is discounting Fiorot in this space.

Aside from owning an impressive 91 percent success rate in the takedown defense department, Fiorot demonstrates a solid understanding of both over and underhooks. Favoring a strong whizzer, Fiorot can both sprawl her hips and/or separate grips when defending her opponent’s shots.

The whizzer is also a great tool that allows the hyper-athletic Fiorot to scramble back to her feet off of semi-completed shots, which will likely come in handy against an aggressive takedown artists like Blanchfield.

Fiorot has shown serviceable grappling from topside in brief stanzas, so perhaps someone like Blacnfield can further test the French fighter’s recently acquired Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt this Saturday.