This fight is a rematch from 2022 that Peira won because of her offensive grappling. Sam showed her toughness in that fight and every fight since. I have made it pretty clear breaking down rematches in the past that I typically don't care about the first fight if there has been a meaningful amount of time since that fight and in this case, that remains true. I don't think Sam is the same person in that fight that she is now. But with that being said, neither is Piera, her wrestling has gotten even better and more aggressive. I think this fight basically comes down to Sam Hughes' takedown defense and frankly it hasn't been great so i have to go with Piera here. If she doesn't get exhausted and stays busy she can sneak out a close one. We need to remember Vegas doesn't care about wrestling but 7 takedowns would be hard to ignore.

Piera Rodriguez

Piera Rodriguez is a nasty striker with very real finishing ability. She plots forward and lets her hands fly. She knows what's she's doing, but she does wing punches from her hips and puts everything into them. She has pretty good takedown defense at 66% and is defensively sound on the ground. She has plenty of takedown offense as well with 28 takedowns in 7 UFC fights, her issue however is control on top. She is coming off the decision win Ketlen Souza where she had 7 takedowns

Sam Hughes

Sam Hughes is a pressure fighter and a bully. She is very aggressive with non-stop forward pressure. She unfortunately is also very hittable with a negative striking differential. She has wrestling with 12 takedowns and plenty of pressure. She is insanely tough but not particularly dangerous. She will exploit her opponents cardio holes but take a beating along the way. She is coming off the submission win over Shauna Bannon where her top pressure was fantastic.