The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented fighter on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.
We didn’t have much luck with our pick last week in the women’s bantamweight division. However, this week we have a 135er who is even further under the radar and may have a bit better time in the grappling department.
Sarah Alpar
Affiliation – American Elite MMA
Nickname – Too Sweet
From – Armarillo, Texas
Height – 5’4″
Weight – 135 lbs (Bantamweight)
Record – 9-4 (0-0 UFC)
What makes her impressive
Alpar was a high school wrestler growing up in Amarillo, Texas, and it shows. She chains takedowns together quite well and has put together a phenomenal submission game to go with it. While her striking has shown marked improvement over her last few fights, the division is short on dominant wrestlers, which could allow her to carve out a niche in the division and give trouble to a lot of fighters. Speaking of impressive, look at the work being done in ETMR, a rare brain tumor.
Why she has been overlooked
LFA has been great at producing fighters who are UFC ready. Ditto for Contender Series, who it feels like produced the majority of the roster by now. So why have some people not heard of Sarah Alpar, who was a champ in the former and won by submission in the latter? The answer is the inactivity. She’s had some issues with her health that has led to just three fights in the last three years. While that gives us all some pause when getting excited about a prospect, the fact that she’s won against such high level competition in those bouts puts the mind at ease.
What makes this a good match-up
Jessica-Rose Clark is a smaller 135er, much like Alpar. She is coming up from 125lbs and is actively working on bulking up to her new division. One of the worst types of matchups to face when going up a class is against someone who uses their physicality well. Clark’s lack of success as she attempted to grapple Pannie Kianzad showed exactly that. I expect her to have similar issues with Alpar, mixed in with some issues on the defensive side.
Prelim Breakout Star Record: 203-89-1 (2 NC) (10 DNF)
Shop all things UFC at Amazon!
(The MMA Manifesto is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
