There have been an increasing number of juniors visiting this sub asking for advice about writing essays. Below are some tips and advice for making your essay stand out as excellent. Feel free to ask questions because I will answer every single question in the comments.
I know from experience that many of you are struggling to identify a good topic for your essay. Conventional wisdom says to start by brainstorming a list of potential topics, and chances are, you have already started a mental list of ideas. You might think you only have a few choices for topics, based on your activities or experiences, or essay examples you read, or the rough draft you already started (or worse, that GPT started...). I advise, however, that you put down your list of topics and back away from it. Forget that exists for a moment. Seriously - thinking about this initial list tethers you to certain ideas that might not actually be your best options.
Now you can begin brainstorming with a clean slate.
Start with thinking about what you want to show in your entire application, not just one essay. Every single component in your app has one purpose – to tell more about YOU. Filling out the rest of the application by rote and focusing solely on the essay is short-sighted and will leave so much potential untapped in your application.

It's About You. Tell Your Story - And Be The Protagonist

An admissions officer’s goal is to understand you fully, in the context of your background and the rest of the applicant pool. They will begin this with assessing your academic abilities and potential. Then they will evaluate how you will fit into the student body they’re trying to curate. All of this can be somewhat broad and diverse and touch on several institutional goals. But they will dig deep to find out what each applicant is like, what your core values and motivations are, what kind of student you will be, how you will contribute to the vibrant and intellectual campus community they’re building, etc.
Your goal with essay brainstorming is to ascertain how to powerfully tell your story in a manner that will fit these criteria. The entirety of your application (again, not just one essay) aims to showcase your abilities, qualifications, and uncommon attributes as a person in a positive way. Before you begin outlining or writing your application, you must determine what is unique about you that will stand out to an admissions panel. All students are truly unique. Not one other student has the same combination of life experiences, personality, passions, or goals as you do. Your job in your application is to frame your unique personal attributes in a positive and compelling way. How will you fit on campus? What personal qualities, strengths, core values, talents, or different perspectives do you bring to the table? What stories, deeper motivations/beliefs, or formative experiences can you use to illustrate all of this?
It is always helpful to start with some soul-searching or self-examination. You might not immediately know what you want to share about yourself. It’s not a simple task to decide how to summarize your whole life and being in a powerful and eloquent way on your application. Introspection prior to starting your application takes additional time and effort rather than jumping straight into your first draft. But it is also a valuable method to start writing a winning application that stands out from the stack.
You'll see the advice everywhere that all essay prompts are really about the same thing - you. The goal of each essay then is to showcase who you are, what matters to you, and how you think. I guarantee if you're on this sub enough, you'll hear the advice to "show, don't tell" when writing about yourself. But what does this mean really, and how do you do it well? How do you even get started on an essay that does this?

Introspection Questions

It’s often easiest to start thinking in terms of superlatives, especially those related to personal insights -- what are the most meaningful things about you, and what do you value the most? Here is a list of questions to help you brainstorm broadly before you narrow down your focus for writing:

• What are your interests?
  
• What sparks your curiosity?
  
• About what topics do you enjoy reading?
  
• With whom do you enjoy spending time? Who has impacted your life the most?
  
• Reflect upon “superlatives” in your life. What moments were most memorable, formative, enlightening, enjoyable, or valuable? What physical possessions, experiences, dreams, or lessons could make your superlatives list?
  
• Stop and think about what things, people, or circumstances in your life are really unique, fascinating, or outlandish. Are there any that really have a lot of "cultural flavor" (whatever your culture is)?
  

I have a free introspection worksheet with over 100 questions like this designed to help you find ideas worth exploring in your essays. You can find it on the A2C Discord or download it directly here.

Find Your Story And Arc

Think of a small anecdote or story from your life that you could share that serves as a microcosm of who you are and what is important to you. It will massively help you narrow this down and find a gem of a story if you first start by thinking about your application arc or theme. This is the one-phrase summary of your entire application. It could be "brilliant entrepreneur who started her own successful business" or "talented athlete who wants to study economics and finance as they pertain to sports", or even "avid baker whose hobby sparked an interest in chemistry". It doesn't have to be related to your intended major, but it can help your arc be stronger and clearer if it is.
Once you have an arc determined and a story to share, think about what you want that story to say about you. This is where it can help to think of this as something you would share on a date - what impression does it make about you to the reader? Once you know this, start showing, not telling this attribute of yourself through your story. For example, instead of saying that you're compassionate toward others, you show an example of a time you were compassionate, then elaborate on why, and what it means to you.

Essay Brainstorming Techniques

If you are having trouble finding a story, or simply have writer’s block once you have picked your topic, here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

• Stream of consciousness writing -- Start writing whatever is in your head, and don’t stop for 30 minutes. You probably won’t use what you just wrote for your essay, but it will help you find a starting point.
  
• Journaling -- Answer the prompt as if you were writing in a journal. This will get you in the habit of writing about yourself and establish comfort with the concept. It will also take you to a new level of introspection and self-awareness.
  
• Twitter X style -- Write several rapid-fire responses to the prompt in 280 characters or less. Choose an idea from these responses to expound upon in your essay.
  
• Read each essay prompt, then go through your introspection worksheet responses and connect the stories and insights to one or more of the prompts. Some students like using color coding to visually see how their different ideas might work together.
  

Why Essays Matter

Here's the thing a lot of people don't realize about college admission: it's not an award for being the smartest, most accomplished, or most impressive. It's an invitation to join a community. Far too many students think that if they can just show that they're smart enough, they'll get in. Yale even says right on their admissions website that 75% of their applicants are academically qualified to succeed at Yale. But only ~4% are getting in. That should tell you that they're looking for more than just top tier test scores and grades. To be perfectly clear, you will need top tier grades and (optionally) test scores to show that you're qualified, and the vast majority of my students come to me with this part already in the bank. But what sets the admits apart? It's personal insight - sharing who you are, how you think, what matters to you, and how you engage community. You can't just say "/IAmVerySmart, please admit me," or even "I did a cool thing guys! Isn't that neat!" You need to go deeper and show them your core values, personal strengths, motivations, aspirations, character traits, foundational beliefs, personality, etc. And you need to do it in a charming, winsome way that makes them like you and want to invite you to join their community.
So how do I get students to do this? All of my students complete that introspection worksheet. We go through it and find the stories, examples, anecdotes, conversations, memories, relationships, and other things from their life that will help us craft a strong and personally insightful narrative. We also make lists of the values, strengths, and key personal qualities we want to showcase. Once we have some topics, outlines, abstracts, or rough drafts, we talk about which stories to tell where, how to tell them well, and what details to include to present the best they have to offer. Then we refine, edit, polish, and enhance over and over until the story sings, but more importantly shows their heart and soul. We also go through all the other application components to ensure consistency, quality, and distinctiveness.
Here's why this works so well: at most highly selective colleges there is a primary reader (or 2-3) who will review everything first and then present it to the admissions committee, who then votes on whether to admit you. That presentation typically goes one of three ways:

1. Total enthusiasm, energy, and excitement. They strongly advocate for admission and paint a clear picture of how you will contribute to their goals and community. Everyone in the room picks up on that energy and is leaning forward in their chairs, looking for reasons to admit you. This is quite rare, generally less than 5 out of every 100 applications, even among those which are "fully qualified." When you do this right, you show depth, meaning, and valuable personal insights so the reviewer is learning about who you are and how you might engage the community they're curating. You come alive off the page as a person, not just another file.
   
2. Business as usual. You're another great applicant in a pile of great applicants. They share a basic review of the facts, your profile, stats, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Maybe someone on the committee finds something they love, and they really push for admission. More likely, not and you get deferred/waitlisted even though there wasn't anything "wrong" with your application. They just didn't love you enough to commit.
   
3. "Here's a stack of 20 applications that I didn't find all that compelling, so we won't present them individually, but you guys are the committee and you make the decisions. So let me know if there are any you want to talk about." In this case, unless there's a letter of endorsement from an athletics coach or your last name matches several buildings on campus, you're probably not getting additional consideration, much less admission. They will regret to inform you.
   

Everything we're doing is designed to help them get to know themselves, present the best they have to offer, and land in that first group. Having top tier essays is the single best way to get there. Get started on brainstorming in the next few weeks so you'll have time to get a few essays completed over the summer.

Does anyone have any experience personally with this roofing company? Family member is shopping a new roof (shingles only), and is leaning towards this company due to their (seemingly too cheap) price of $10K for a smaller sized roof. Had different quotes from roofers such as Kelly Roofing (and a few others, each about $5-8k more expensive). They seem to be licensed and insured from what I can find on www.myfloridalicense.com , but I just can’t find any reviews or proof of work. I have no idea what the warranty includes but I just don’t want to be screwed by shoddy workmanship. I appreciate any input!

I live in Ohio, and my house is approximately 30 years old and still has the original roof of Presidential shingles. Recently heard of some neighbors filing insurance claims based on recent hail/storm damages so I decided it was worth a shot to possibly replace a 30 year old roof. Lo and behold, my insurance company approved a full replacement and already cut me a check for low $30Ks. Based on talking to neighbors, this should be more than enough to replace with the 'basic' shingles, but nervous this won't cover the equivalent Presidential shingles (been looking at the CertainTeed Presidential Shakes). I actually got a quote from a local contractor that put a full replacement with CertainTeed Presidential Shakes at mid $50Ks.
So questions are; (1) Is aforementioned contractor quote seem legit (my itemized reimbursement statement has me needing in the mid 30s square feet of shingles)? (2) Any chance I go back to the insurance company and try to get more as they clearly just reimbursed me for the basic single and not the equivalent of what I have/was damaged?

Humans are Weird – Storm Watching

Original Post: http://www.authorbettyadams.com/bettys-blog/humans-are-weird-storm-watching
“Why did we even bother building a base on the land anyway?” Rollsaround asked as he absorbed the dim light filtering through the wide windows of the base.
The windows gave an impressive view of what the humans in their generosity called a “coastline”. Instead of gently undulating coral beds easing down into the water the glittering volcanic rock dropped abruptly from the graminoid covered highlands and dove down dozens of meters to where it usually met the heaving surface of the water below. Today however the water had seemingly decided to express its objections to the separation and was attempting to scale the cliffs in massive waves. The base vibrated from the force of a gust of wind and Rollsaround hunkered deeper into his mineral bath.
“Do you require another introduction of thermal-loaded water?” Tenth Cousin asked from where she perched on a Shatar couch, reading something that was supposed to be very masculine poetry from her homeworld.
“I do not,” Rollsaround reassured her. “I was just reacting negatively to the storm.”
She tilted her head to examine the weather conditions with a thoughtful set to her antenna.
“I think it is a pleasant change,” she said. “The harsh, unfiltered lights of the suns here means that we have no real night. The clouds at lest allow the illusions of dusk, and the wind overhead is not entirely unlike breezes in Father’s canopy if you can focus your attention on some pleasant task.”
“Well if we can’t go outside during clear weather without protection due to the radiation,” Rollsaround grumbled, “and we can’t go outside in stormy weather due to the, well, the storm, I say we should have just built a floating base that we could submerge during storm weather.”
“There is perhaps logic in that,” Tenth cousin agreed, and very deliberately tilted her head back to the poetry.
Rollsaround drooped his leading appendages over the edge of the bowl and absorbed the storm light in a slightly sulky mood. The airlock cycled open and Third Sister stepped in with the brisk stride that Rollsaround had noticed that high ranking sisters only used when they were looking for someone who had committed some infraction. Tenth Cousin brought the poem up closer to her face and started moving her mandibles as if she was completely focused on sounding out the words. Third Sister tilted her head the examine the cousin and then abruptly swiveled her body to focus on Rollsaround.
“First Ecologist,” she began, “do you know First Mechanic’s current location? The exterior vents in my lab require percussive maintenance.”
“He is off shift by now,” Rollsaround said. “You should check the washrooms and his quarters.”
However even as he offered this sound advice Rollsaround felt a ripple of unease. Human Friend Conner almost never went to his quarters after his shift. He was highly social, even by human standards and usually came to the main room to chat first thing.
“I have already checked both of those locations,” Third Sister stated. “He is not there and he is not answering his comm.”
Rollsaround mulled over that. Clearly Third Sister needed to find the human. An improperly vented laboratory in such a base as theirs was a serious health risk.
“Have you checked the storage areas?” he asked.
“I did a ping for his comm,” she replied, “but it is not reading as in the base at all so I could not locate the room he was in. I was surprised as I didn’t think we had any shielding strong enough to block the comm signal in the base-”
She cut off as Rollsaround suddenly surged up out of his mineral bath and crawled out of it.
“What is the matter First Ecologist?” Third Sister asked in confusion.
“He has gone out for a walk,” Rollsaround said, forgetting in his rush to add emotional undertones to his words.
“Out?” Third Sister demanded, her antenna going lax with confusion.
“Out to watch the storm from withing the wind currents,” Rollsaround explained.
“How do you gather that?” Third Sister demanded.
“He has described storm watching on his homeworld to me,” Rollsaround explained as he opened the hatch to the sub floor currents. “He also mentioned what he thought the perfect storm watching spot would be on these cliffs. That spot is behind enough rocks to block the signal. Now if you will excuse me I am going to go fetch him.”
“He has broken regulations!” Third Sister clicked, her frill flashing red with alarm.
“That on a secondary vine,” Tenth Cousin interjected as she came up to them. “The same regulations apply to you First Ecologist! The wind-”
“I am rated as fully wind resistant under these conditions,” Rollsaround said with a dismissive wave, “one of the perks of not being built like a windmill.”
“Your thermal mass-” Tenth Cousin tried again.
“I am fully warmed at the moment and I will turn back if my core temperature drops too low,” he interjected again. “Now if there are no further objections?”
Without waiting for their objections he dropped down into the sub-floor current and tapped the control panel to direct the current to the main outlet. He bundled his appendages and let himself be swept into the cold, but fresh exterior water. He bumped up against the smooth rise of the outlet and edged up out of the water. The wind was powerful. He could feel it tug at him if he raised a gripping appendage high, but at least over the main path there were eddies along the ground that were so comparatively we that he couldn’t even feel them. He began shuffling at top speed along the path. A the crest of the first high spot the winds did hit him, shoving his body sideways. However, as he had expected it required barely a fraction of his strength to grip the path firmly with his set appendages as he moved the free appendages forward. It barely even slowed him down, the roar of it was rather disconcerting when it wasn’t muted by the base walls however. He did wonder how the human had made it this far. After a long steady shuffle he rounded the corner that was blocking the signal and spotted a tall figure down at the cliff’s edge that wasn’t normally there.
Rollsaround activated the comm he was holding pressed against the ground. There was a significant delay before the human responded.
“Human Friend Conner,” Rollsaround said, trying to put firmness in his tones. “Come now and carry me back to the base. I am at the crest of the hill looking down at you.”
There was an odd sound from the comm that suggested the human was trying to say something back, but human speaking organs were not optimized for shielding the microphone of a comm while speaking so the human simply gave two short radio bursts and the tall figure on the cliff’s edge began swaying back and forth as it moved towards the path. Rollsaround anchored himself more fully against the blasts and watched in grim interest as the gusts blew the tall human form to one side and then the other as the human struggled up the path.
When Human Friend Conner finally did reach him the human didn’t bother speaking. He just reached down with a grin and tried to lift the Undulate off of the path. For one long moment Rollsaround hung on to the ground in a show of strength. He wasn’t sure if it would impress the human but a little dominance display did seem called for. He let go when the look of perplexity fully formed on the humans face but before he could give a more powerful tug and they headed back to the base.
Being carried over a meter above the ground in this wind was another experience altogether. The swaying of the human in the wind felt far wilder than it had looked, and Rollsaround found himself clutching tightly to the human’s coat as the wind tried to rip him away. They finally made the base airlock and stepped through to the blessedly still air. Rollsaround dropped to the floor and shook the cold water off of himself.
“I think Third Sister would like a word with you,” he said.
Granted she would probably want a word with him too, but Human Friend Conner didn’t need to know that.

Science Fiction Books By Betty Adams

Amazon (Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook)

Barnes & Nobel (Nook, Paperback, Audiobook)

Powell's Books (Paperback)

Kobo by Rakuten (ebook and Audiobook)

Google Play Books (ebook and Audiobook)

Check out my books at any of these sites and leave a review! "Flying Sparks" - a novel set in the "Dying Embers" universe is now avaliable on all sites!
Please go leave a review on Amazon! It really helps and keeps me writing becase tea and taxes don't pay themselves sadly!

https://preview.redd.it/292890cl190d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80452218955753005afd72dfd6f5c56b3cf0c658

Humans are Weird – Storm Watching

Original Post: http://www.authorbettyadams.com/bettys-blog/humans-are-weird-storm-watching
“Why did we even bother building a base on the land anyway?” Rollsaround asked as he absorbed the dim light filtering through the wide windows of the base.
The windows gave an impressive view of what the humans in their generosity called a “coastline”. Instead of gently undulating coral beds easing down into the water the glittering volcanic rock dropped abruptly from the graminoid covered highlands and dove down dozens of meters to where it usually met the heaving surface of the water below. Today however the water had seemingly decided to express its objections to the separation and was attempting to scale the cliffs in massive waves. The base vibrated from the force of a gust of wind and Rollsaround hunkered deeper into his mineral bath.
“Do you require another introduction of thermal-loaded water?” Tenth Cousin asked from where she perched on a Shatar couch, reading something that was supposed to be very masculine poetry from her homeworld.
“I do not,” Rollsaround reassured her. “I was just reacting negatively to the storm.”
She tilted her head to examine the weather conditions with a thoughtful set to her antenna.
“I think it is a pleasant change,” she said. “The harsh, unfiltered lights of the suns here means that we have no real night. The clouds at lest allow the illusions of dusk, and the wind overhead is not entirely unlike breezes in Father’s canopy if you can focus your attention on some pleasant task.”
“Well if we can’t go outside during clear weather without protection due to the radiation,” Rollsaround grumbled, “and we can’t go outside in stormy weather due to the, well, the storm, I say we should have just built a floating base that we could submerge during storm weather.”
“There is perhaps logic in that,” Tenth cousin agreed, and very deliberately tilted her head back to the poetry.
Rollsaround drooped his leading appendages over the edge of the bowl and absorbed the storm light in a slightly sulky mood. The airlock cycled open and Third Sister stepped in with the brisk stride that Rollsaround had noticed that high ranking sisters only used when they were looking for someone who had committed some infraction. Tenth Cousin brought the poem up closer to her face and started moving her mandibles as if she was completely focused on sounding out the words. Third Sister tilted her head the examine the cousin and then abruptly swiveled her body to focus on Rollsaround.
“First Ecologist,” she began, “do you know First Mechanic’s current location? The exterior vents in my lab require percussive maintenance.”
“He is off shift by now,” Rollsaround said. “You should check the washrooms and his quarters.”
However even as he offered this sound advice Rollsaround felt a ripple of unease. Human Friend Conner almost never went to his quarters after his shift. He was highly social, even by human standards and usually came to the main room to chat first thing.
“I have already checked both of those locations,” Third Sister stated. “He is not there and he is not answering his comm.”
Rollsaround mulled over that. Clearly Third Sister needed to find the human. An improperly vented laboratory in such a base as theirs was a serious health risk.
“Have you checked the storage areas?” he asked.
“I did a ping for his comm,” she replied, “but it is not reading as in the base at all so I could not locate the room he was in. I was surprised as I didn’t think we had any shielding strong enough to block the comm signal in the base-”
She cut off as Rollsaround suddenly surged up out of his mineral bath and crawled out of it.
“What is the matter First Ecologist?” Third Sister asked in confusion.
“He has gone out for a walk,” Rollsaround said, forgetting in his rush to add emotional undertones to his words.
“Out?” Third Sister demanded, her antenna going lax with confusion.
“Out to watch the storm from withing the wind currents,” Rollsaround explained.
“How do you gather that?” Third Sister demanded.
“He has described storm watching on his homeworld to me,” Rollsaround explained as he opened the hatch to the sub floor currents. “He also mentioned what he thought the perfect storm watching spot would be on these cliffs. That spot is behind enough rocks to block the signal. Now if you will excuse me I am going to go fetch him.”
“He has broken regulations!” Third Sister clicked, her frill flashing red with alarm.
“That on a secondary vine,” Tenth Cousin interjected as she came up to them. “The same regulations apply to you First Ecologist! The wind-”
“I am rated as fully wind resistant under these conditions,” Rollsaround said with a dismissive wave, “one of the perks of not being built like a windmill.”
“Your thermal mass-” Tenth Cousin tried again.
“I am fully warmed at the moment and I will turn back if my core temperature drops too low,” he interjected again. “Now if there are no further objections?”
Without waiting for their objections he dropped down into the sub-floor current and tapped the control panel to direct the current to the main outlet. He bundled his appendages and let himself be swept into the cold, but fresh exterior water. He bumped up against the smooth rise of the outlet and edged up out of the water. The wind was powerful. He could feel it tug at him if he raised a gripping appendage high, but at least over the main path there were eddies along the ground that were so comparatively we that he couldn’t even feel them. He began shuffling at top speed along the path. A the crest of the first high spot the winds did hit him, shoving his body sideways. However, as he had expected it required barely a fraction of his strength to grip the path firmly with his set appendages as he moved the free appendages forward. It barely even slowed him down, the roar of it was rather disconcerting when it wasn’t muted by the base walls however. He did wonder how the human had made it this far. After a long steady shuffle he rounded the corner that was blocking the signal and spotted a tall figure down at the cliff’s edge that wasn’t normally there.
Rollsaround activated the comm he was holding pressed against the ground. There was a significant delay before the human responded.
“Human Friend Conner,” Rollsaround said, trying to put firmness in his tones. “Come now and carry me back to the base. I am at the crest of the hill looking down at you.”
There was an odd sound from the comm that suggested the human was trying to say something back, but human speaking organs were not optimized for shielding the microphone of a comm while speaking so the human simply gave two short radio bursts and the tall figure on the cliff’s edge began swaying back and forth as it moved towards the path. Rollsaround anchored himself more fully against the blasts and watched in grim interest as the gusts blew the tall human form to one side and then the other as the human struggled up the path.
When Human Friend Conner finally did reach him the human didn’t bother speaking. He just reached down with a grin and tried to lift the Undulate off of the path. For one long moment Rollsaround hung on to the ground in a show of strength. He wasn’t sure if it would impress the human but a little dominance display did seem called for. He let go when the look of perplexity fully formed on the humans face but before he could give a more powerful tug and they headed back to the base.
Being carried over a meter above the ground in this wind was another experience altogether. The swaying of the human in the wind felt far wilder than it had looked, and Rollsaround found himself clutching tightly to the human’s coat as the wind tried to rip him away. They finally made the base airlock and stepped through to the blessedly still air. Rollsaround dropped to the floor and shook the cold water off of himself.
“I think Third Sister would like a word with you,” he said.
Granted she would probably want a word with him too, but Human Friend Conner didn’t need to know that.
https://i.redd.it/gdoknun0390d1.gif

Science Fiction Books By Betty Adams

Amazon (Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook)

Barnes & Nobel (Nook, Paperback, Audiobook)

Powell's Books (Paperback)

Kobo by Rakuten (ebook and Audiobook)

Google Play Books (ebook and Audiobook)

Check out my books at any of these sites and leave a review! "Flying Sparks" - a novel set in the "Dying Embers" universe is now avaliable on all sites!
Please go leave a review on Amazon! It really helps and keeps me writing becase tea and taxes don't pay themselves sadly!

Lately I’ve had several posts on actingclass of people looking for monologues for an audition. They explain that they have “no previous acting training”. If you are in this position or hope to be, read on! Here are the cold hard facts and what you can do about them.
First of all, it depends on how important this audition is. Is it a professional production…a school or community production? Is it for an agent? How important is it to YOU? Whatever it is, you want to do well. The people who will see your audition will be forming an opinion of you as they watch.
Picking a random monologue, memorizing it and reciting it for someone, isn’t going to do anything good for you. Acting is so much more than that. What you choose and how you do it is crucial. They want to be able to believe you are your character. They want to see interaction and you responding to the person you are speaking to. They want to see you using your words to change the other person.
You only have one chance to make a first impression and that can last a very long time in the minds of the people you want to impress. Even school and community theater can be competitive. And in the professional world of acting in theater, film or tv, it’s like trying out for the Olympics. You are up against the best of the best.
People fantasize about being completely unknown and inexperienced and suddenly being discovered by a big tv or movie producer and cast as the lead. This NEVER happens. There is only one way to get signed for that kind of work. You need to be the best actor they see. In fact, that is true for any audition you do. No one chooses the fifth best actor (unless it’s a close family member). They don’t choose the second best actor. They only want THE BEST.
So how do you impress them if you’ve never acted before? Very simply…you can’t! Chances are, if it’s something worth doing there are going to be lots of actors there with tons of training and experience. So you need that too. Even if you did a small part in a middle school play and have always dreamed of doing more—It’s not enough. Acting is a skill that takes practice and guidance. You can’t “wing it”.
So what about this audition you have? If you think this a a huge opportunity and there is limited time to prepare, you need private coaching with an experienced and insightful teacher. I do this for new (as well as very experienced) actors all the time. I help them to find the right monologue—one to show they are right for and can handle the role in question. Or I coach them on audition material they have been given. All my lessons are recorded so you can rewatch them or even edit them to submit for self-tape auditions. This is the fastest way to prepare for an opportunity you don’t want to waste.
Auditions are nothing to take lightly. Each one is a precious gift that you should never take for granted. Each one is a building block, constructing your reputation as an actor. Your audition (or anything anyone sees you do), must be compelling as well as show a variety of emotions as you connect to another character. It needs to be at a professional level, prepared and skilled with purpose and relationship in every word. No one wants less than that for their project. No one takes on a beginner in a major production. Movies, tv shows and even theater productions cost too much to risk their success on beginners. Actors need to be assets, not a gamble. If you want to be hired, you need the skills.
Now…if you have time and that big “opportunity of a lifetime” is still in your imagination, you are in luck! Still there is no time to lose. There are some simple (but not so easy) steps you must follow. When you do all that I describe below, you WILL BE A SKILLED ACTOR. You just need to get started.
I am Winnie Hiller, a professional acting coach in Hollywood who has been on set of a TV show everyday with a celebrity actor for 14 years. Before that I taught for decades in NYC and LA. Here is a video of some of my STUDENTS TALKING ABOUT ME AS A TEACHER. The students in my Zoom classes are warm, welcoming and come from all over the world. For many this class has changed their lives. Here are the steps you must take to get you on that journey.

STEP NO. 1 - GET INVOLVED IN ACTING CLASS!

This sub is a GOLDMINE of information about acting and the business of show business. There are over 60 free WRITTEN LESSONS that will Introduce you to insightful concepts about the craft. They will open your eyes whether you are new to acting or have been studying all your life. There are over 100 free VIDEO LESSONS that will illustrate and demonstrate the concepts in the written lessons. Watch them from the bottom up. Read and watch and you will understand acting in a new profound way. It’s a great first step!

STEP NO. 2 - INTRO TO ACTING ZOOM CLASS

INTRO TO ACTING CLASS - WEDNESDAY EVENING at 4:30 PM PACIFIC. CLASS BEGINS MAY 15
Step 1 will help you so much, but to really become an actor, you need regular hands on training with a professional who knows what is required to have a real career and can guide and direct you. If you are new to my technique or you are just getting started in your acting career, this is the class where I can personally help you start applying my techniques to your own work. Being in class every week, working on a monologue, learning to use every word to its fullest will become part of who you are as an actor. All the basics will be covered and I will work intensely with you to make sure you can apply them. The sessions are five weeks long with a Showcase Broadcast on week five. All classes are recorded and sent to students to review afterwards. This way you can see your progress for yourself, and take notes on all the guidance I have given you. You can sign up HERE

STEP NO. 3 - SCENE STUDY CLASS

Think of THE SCENE STUDY CLASSES as an escalator step that you can ride all the way to the top. Besides learning to apply your new knowledge to working with other actors, developing characters, and creating compelling performances, it’s like an “acting gym” where you can exercise your acting brain and keep all your skills tuned up and ready to go. It’s where students who have learned the concepts explained in the written and video lessons get to put them to use by doing scenes from tv, film and theater with my intensive feedback and guidance in real time. Working with a scene partner each week is priceless experience that will serve you the rest of your career as you learn what will make your performances unique, specific and professional level “WOW”. These are the skills you need to acquire for a professional career, giving performances that agents and CDs can’t say no to. Sessions are 5 weeks long and are ongoing. Videos of every class are provided and there is a Performance Showcase broadcast on week 5.

STEP NO. 4 - ADVANCED AUDITION TECHNIQUE

ADVANCED AUDITION TECHNIQUE is another one of those “escalator steps” that will help you throughout your career. If you are not getting enough auditions (and who is?) or you haven’t started auditioning yet, this is the way to make sure that when opportunities arise you will be able to “knock their socks off”. Get thrown a weekly challenge to create a self-tape from new audition sides. Work on film and TV scripts, commercial copy and the all important “Slate”…in real time, with the high pressure demands of a real, professional audition. Students receive their audition sides a day or two before class. They must create a professional quality self tape with their slate. The tape is played in class for my critique and coaching, then they give their callback performance, attempting to implement my direction. All in one class day!
If you have an important audition coming up—message me. If hope that opportunity will come, get acquainted with this sub. Scroll down the actingclass page and see all that there is here…lessons, videos, questions and answers. Don’t wait any longer. If you’ve always wanted a chance to be “discovered”, get ready for it! I’ll help!

If you saw a PsyD who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) diagnose your ADHD, and received a second opinion from a Psychiatrist, what was your experience like?
I saw a male PsyD a few months ago, and when I reflect back on my experience, I was totally dismissed. I think it was my mistake to let the neuropsychology practice “pick” my doctor, but hindsight is 20/20, I guess. He saw me for about 10 minutes before referring me to testing, mostly asking me about medication and other medical history—not much talk about my symptoms and experiences as an adult or child.
Fast forward to testing—I did spectacularly. But, I knew I would. It was a controlled and quiet environment, and I am a rockstar under pressure. I am where I am in my career because I’m a good test taker! That test got 100% from me, and lead to me not being diagnosed. We had a meeting to review the results and he told me he only diagnoses off of Neuro test results, and doesn’t provide opinion—he “lets the numbers speak for themselves.” He suggested I see a psychiatrist, and I have an appointment coming up.
I made a point to choose a female psychiatrist who has experience with (female) adult ADHD. Should I approach this appointment differently? Being told there’s nothing wrong with you when you’ve got an extensive family history and list of executive functioning impairments a mile long provides zero relief and left me with more questions than answers.
I just want to be taken seriously. This upcoming appointment is slated for 90 minutes, so I have my fingers crossed we actually get to talk.

Goodreads
This is probably going to be in the top 5 best books I read in 2024. I read this as a library book, but I intend to buy the hardback next time I visit a store.
I have the feeling my enjoyment won't be a very common opinion. This book has layers. And to be honest, I don't fully understand this book. I don't know about castes, as an example, so some of this book went over my head.
Before we begin, do you have a book which needs editing? Do you want to read more reviews? Here is a link: The Rest of My In Depth Reviews
WHAT IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE? WHAT GENRES? WHAT MAJOR TROPES?

• Magical Realism
• South Asian
• Buddhism
• 15+ years old
• A wee bit horny at moments
• LGBT

MY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE/ FUN FACTOR
This book is steeped in Southern Asian culture, a culture I'm not a part of. I'm writing this review in good faith, but I'm well aware I'm approaching this from a place of ignorance. So as you read this, please give me the benefit of the doubt if I make any mistakes.
This novel is a cultural critique of how a Buddhist society can use Buddhism as a cudgel to legitimize control and oppress minorities.
At the same time this book has a surreal bent. The main antagonist, 'The Perfect and Kind,' has reality warping power. Here's a spoiler: at one point, the protagonist is about to assassinate 'The Perfect and Kind.' To survive the assassination attempt, 'The Perfect and Kind' rewrites the events of the prior three days to prevent the assassination from ever happening. This is just the tip of the spear in terms of how weird this book is.
I really enjoyed this book, and was never bored. Now that said, the book only kicks into high-gear about halfway through. Before the halfway point, it is a traditional rebellion against authority story; after the halfway point, it becomes a surreal rebellion.
If you like traditional Western fight-scene focused fantasy novels, this book will not provide that. This book is more focused on how governments use violence against their people; violence is the tool of the enemy in this book, not the heroes.
BIASES STATED
To put this review/study in proper context, you must know my starting point.
Just being honest with ya'll, when I heard this was nominated for a Hugo I assumed it would be a bad book; I read last year's Hugo slate and they left me underwhelmed. (Yeah, I know how shallow that sounds. But I bounced off HARD from last year's slate and especially last year's drama.)
I was pleasantly surprised upon reading 'The Saint of Bright Doors.' It's actually good!
SIMILAR BOOKS/OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

• 'The City and the City' by China Mieville
• 'Ombria in Shadow' by Patricia McKillip
• 'Senlin Ascends' by Josiah Bancrof
• Amber by Zelazny
• 'The Lathe of Heaven' by Ursula K. LeGuin

CONCEPT AND EXECUTION
In the Buddhist tradition, when the Buddha began his spiritual journey he abandoned his wife and child. For the Buddha to find personal enlightenment, he had to renounce all worldly attachments, including family. His son was such a fetter.
'The Saint of Bright Doors' is about a man named Fetter, the abandoned son of a living god called 'The Perfect and Kind.' Fetter now wants to kill his father 'The Perfect and Kind' in revenge for being abandoned as a child.
This book is about the complicated relationship people can have with Buddhism. In the West, we like to think of Buddhism as a nonviolent religion; in truth, Buddhists are as capable of violence as anyone else. This book features castes, needlessly bureaucratic government, religious abuse, and a police state... with 'The Perfect and Kind' (aka the Buddha) being able to meddle with and control all of it. The author is from Sri Lanka, where Buddhist monks play an active role in politics; I'm just guessing that in some way frustration with the status quo in Sri Lanka informed the writing of this novel.
On top of it all is a heaping-helping of magical realism.
At one point, the protagonist is imprisoned for a crime, and he's sent to a prison which (I think) is loosely based on a bureaucratic vision of a Buddhist hellish afterlife. What follows is a surreal, Kafka-esque sequence of bureaucratic madness. The protagonist doesn't even know why he's imprisoned... indeed, no one imprisoned knows why they're in Hell/prison. It's never explained why Fetter was sent to Hell, and that's the point. In Buddhism, everything is empty of meaning, even death; spiritually, this imprisonment is pointless. It also represents a government system run amok, repressing people merely to save face without making anyone actually safer.
The sequence in hell/prison reminded me of Josiah Bancrof's 'Books of Babel,' where characters enter the tower of Babel on vacation, and in order to climb the tower you have to join the culture of the locals in the tower and act as the locals act to progress. No one in the tower of Babel understands how or why the tower exists, just as no one in this book understands why the hell/prison in 'The Saint of Bright Doors' is as baffling in the way it is.
Even after Fetter escapes prison, he's not truly escaped; the vicissitudes of samsara follows him back to Luriat, for Luriat's police state is just another layer of imprisonment. He realizes that even though he escaped the physical prison, he'll never escape the spiritual prison, for the entire world is a prison. Fetter tries to escape suffering by escaping prison, and it doesn't work. Suffering follows him out.
It was with this realization that this book came into it's own. When he realized he'd always be entrapped in a prison of his father's creation, it became more necessary than ever to fight and rebel against his father.
Some of the reviews I read for this book claim that this book is listless, where Fetter goes from one random adventure to another without a solid link between them. This time in prison is one such 'listless' adventure. I think they're wrong about it being 'listless.'

• The 'listless' adventures which annoyed those reviewers are spiritual echoes of his father's evil. Many of the devils in the world are a direct result of his father manipulating reality; likewise, the government is controlled by his father. Ergo, all the minor adventures caused by devils and Bright Doors and the bureaucratic government are his father's fault.
• Fetter spends the first half of the book running away from his destiny of killing his father, only to have many small problems come his way. And yet Fetter never puts 2+2 together and realizes that the minor problems he faces are due to his father. Running away is just making his problems worse.
• I think the 'listlessness' is a deliberate character choice by the author, demonstrating Fetter's willingness to tolerate the intolerable status quo because he is so intent on not fulfilling his destiny.
• This is good characterization and good subtext by the author. I appreciate that the author did not hold the hand of the reader and spell it out, and instead trusted the reader to figure it out on their own.

CHARACTERS, CHARACTERIZATION AND DIALOG
'The Perfect and Kind' is this book's antagonist, but I wouldn't call him evil. The author is very careful to point out that 'The Perfect and Kind' rejects all forms of duality; thus, evil simply doesn't apply to him because 'good and evil' are a duality. If we reject duality, we must simply assume his actions are performed because of simple human ambition.
'The Perfect and Kind' becomes the antagonist because the government of the city use his religion as a rallying cry to justify pogroms, mass-imprisonment, and censoring dissent. Even the clergy of 'The Perfect and Kind' religion take part in the chaos.
Fetter's Mother is a secondary antagonist. The Mother-of-Glory is the jilted lover left behind by 'The Perfect and Kind' when he became a renunciate monk; she swore revenge and raised Fetter from a young age to be an assassin and kill his father. She is justified in her rage: 'The Perfect and Kind' learned her culture's traditional magics, and learned them better than anyone who had come before. He used those magics to become a god, dumped her, and then rewrote reality so no one would ever know that's how he ascended.
Fetter himself is emotionally repressed. After escaping his mother's death cult, he's joined a support group for Almost-Chosen Ones, trying to gain his own agency away from his towering destiny. He and his friends lead a rebellion against the status quo, trying to topple the oppressive government.
I liked how Fetter felt a pull towards both parents: I don't know if the author intended to write a Daoist character, but I saw his parents as opposite poles. His mother is very Yang: she's frequently quoted as saying 'change only comes through directed violence.' His father is very Yin: 'The Perfect and Kind' prefers to solve problems by indirect means, such as discussion or manipulation. (My goodness, their marriage must have been a mess.)
Fetter defeats BOTH parents after he learned BOTH of their strengths: he used his mother's rage to lead the revolt, while he used his father's emotional stability to not be washed away in the madness of the cycles of violence which eternally rip Luriat apart. That is a solid character arc.
And yet, the story seems to hold Fetter at an emotional arm's length. I personally feel like the story did a decent job of exploring Fetter's emotionality, but I wanted the book to explore his emotions a bit more. His love story in particular felt underdeveloped.
PLOT, STAKES AND TENSION
The first half of the book was devoted to a growing rebellion against the repressive government of Luriat, while Fetter is desperately rejecting his destiny of killing his father. In the second half, 'The Perfect and Kind' moves to Luriat and takes over it's repressive government. Now Fetter must kill his father to save Luriat and fulfill his destiny, whether he likes it or not.
The first half of the book feels 'normal' (aka, not slipstream), while the addition of 'The Perfect and Kind' in the second half of the book makes the book feel 'weird,' as the very fabric of narrative reality begins to break down. This 'weirdness' gives the book an uneven texture while reading. This uneven texture isn't necessarily a bad thing! Indeed, I wish the author leaned it the uneven texture more. More on this later, when I discuss setting.
The book had minimal tension. At one point important named characters begin to die, and I was left unmoved. I think the author wanted to evoke sadness in the reader when important named characters began to die, but I was so emotionally detached from the characters in this book that I didn't feel sadness.
(You know how I said 'I wanted the book to explore his emotions a bit more' above? The book didn't do enough to sell me on those emotions, and the tension suffered because of it. At least for me.)
Additionally, the whole slipstream-y-ness of this book added a further layer of detachment to the book. This book was so 'anything goes' when it comes to 'cause and effect' that I was left questioning whether or not dead characters were actually dead, or if they would come back. This narrative played by it's own rules, for both good and ill.
And it's fine if this book doesn't have cutthroat tension. Not all books have to have world-ending stakes.
One thing I liked was how the death of 'The Perfect and Kind' does NOT solve the city's problems. Yes, 'The Perfect and Kind' was meddling with events in an effort to consolidate his power, however human nature was always the problem. Luriat had problems before he arrived, and will still have problems after his death, because suffering is the default state of the universe.
The author successfully used foreshadowing to set up and pay off several prophesies. I like pointing out when an author successfully uses foreshadowing, because so many don't.
AUTHORIAL VOICE (TONE, PROSE AND THEME)
I liked the authorial voice of this book. It is very pretty. Here's a link to the goodreads quotation page for a taste of some of it.
As for theme, this book exists in a Buddhist context, but strikes me as being counter-cultural to the Buddhist message. I dunno, I'm Western so I don't feel expert enough to speak as an authority on how this book should be interpreted. But the Buddha is the bad guy in this.
If I'm reading this book right, I think this book re-enacts the life of the Shakyamuni Buddha, but told from his son's perspective. But it also adds a queer lens: not only is Fetter gay, but 'The Perfect and Kind' and the Mother-of-Glory both have same sex lovers. It also adds a modern lens, with computers and bureaucratic governments and social media. It also adds a decolonialist lens; 'The Perfect and Kind' conquered Luriat and the hinterlands. This conquest upset the local Mother, whose entire culture was subsumed and forgotten.
If I'm reading this book right, this book engages with Buddhism as a historical entity and local custom, as opposed to it's theology. It doesn't engage with the Eightfold Path or the Four Noble Truths, but instead looks at how the clerics and monks of the religion can lead pogroms and persecutions. The book isn't wrong to be so jaded; right now Sri Lanka is going through some stuff, and Buddhist monks are playing a political role on both sides. It must be disheartening to see your religion tearing itself apart like that.
This books is a very interstitial. Fetter is the biracial child in a city where you get categorized according to race. He's stuck in-between loyalty to his warring parents and their warring philosophical worldviews. Queerness is innately interstitial. And the theme of doors opening to nowhere is innately interstitial.
SETTING, WORLDBUILDING AND ORIGINALITY
The city of Luriat is a character in and of itself. It is located on a magical confluence, where reality never seems to quite stay pinned down. There exist Bright Doors in Luriat; doors which open into almost-was worlds which once existed but are now forgotten. A harsh and nonsensical bureaucracy has taken control of the city of Luriat, to clamp-down on the wild magics and diseases which wash through the place regularly... though in actual practice, the bureaucracy is used by factions to punish their enemies without cause. I'd compare it to 'The City and the City' by China Mieville.
The culture of people in Luriat changes on a whim, and the protagonist can never be quite certain it changed because of the constant reality warping or because he simply missed out on the newest social media wave.

• You know the feeling of logging onto twitter for the first time in a month, and finding references to a weird Highly Online Drama you have no context of?
• Luriat is like that. Because so much reality-altering magic is flying around, Fetter can't be sure the oddness of the city is because of the magic, or because of some cultural shift which Fetter missed because he's been busy doing other things.

I liked how the author used the surreal, dreamlike feel of Luriat as a metaphor to discuss the rapid-fire nature of cultural developments on places like Twitter, though I don't know if that was deliberate by the author or if I'm just reading into things. The setting is intentionally confusing, and it's wonderful. Luriat is a vibrant megalopolis, which refuses to be pinned down.
NOW THAT SAID, it could have been better. This book constantly cites castes and races are at the heart of the various conflicts in the story: what races were these, what castes are these? How do they relate to one another? The book points out multiple factions of Kings and Queens. Who are they? Gimme answers.
Now imagine if the narrative described these castes and factions in the first half of the novel. When reality starts changing, the reader would feel those changes all the more intensely. What if caste A represses caste B in the first timeline, only for caste B to repress caste A in the second timeline? Because the book never explored the details of the conflicts in question, when they changed it wasn't impactful.
If you've played Bioshock Infinite, there is a sequence when timelines begin to merge, when a Theocratic Conservative government loses power to a Worker's Rebellion a la the Haitian Revolution. I wanted a dramatic moment like that to happen in 'Saint of Bright Doors,' when it seems like the whole world changes in the blink of the eye. I feel like the book could have done more with the whole retroactive reality warping thing.
And finally, I have to complement how the author used the topic of architecture to discuss Luriat's history. By discussing different construction styles, this gave Luriat a feeling of timeless depth. A lot of fantasy books I read feel a bit skin-deep, with only a little bit of history; Luriat feels like it's been around for A WHILE. I liked that.
AUDIOBOOK NOTES
I listened to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator was VERY GOOD... however, this book is confusing. I had to back up and re-listen to segments more than once to make sure I understood was was going on. I suggest you read a paper or ebook version of this book; it might help with the clarity. Also, the prose is beautiful enough that reading it with your eyes might help you savor it more.
LESSONS LEARNED
As an author, I want to improve my own writing/editing skills. To that end, I like to learn lessons from every story I read. Here's what I learned from this story:

• Play around with narrative cause-and-effect. In the West, it's common convention that the events in a book must make sense in logical order. This book was compelling in part because it was willing to detach logical cause from effect.

Here's a link to all the lessons I've previously learned.

Lifetime - Staked: 892.4u, Profit/Loss: +12.04u, ROI: 1.35%, Parlay Suggestions: 171-67 Dog of the Week: 13-16
2024 - Staked: 245.3u, Profit/Loss: -21.32u
As always, scroll down for UFC Vegas 92 Breakdowns. The following is just a recap of last event’s results.
~UFC St. Louis (PREVIOUS CARD)~
Staked: 15.75u
Profit/Loss: -15.75u
Parlay Suggestions: 3-3
I’m not really sure how to write a review of a card where you go 0-11 in bets and lose 15.75u. All I know is I’m currently going through an awful year and results have been shocking, and mentally it’s becoming quite taxing. The records are cool and all, but I’m obviously losing money here also and suffering that much of a loss just doesn’t sit well. Mentally I’ve taken a bit of a hit, I can’t lie. Thankfully I’d done most of my research for this upcoming card before UFC STL took place so it shouldn’t cloud my decision making too much. Grateful we’ve got a break week coming up, I need some time to lick my wounds after this one.
I’ll save characters and just direct you to last week’s post if you’d like to see the disasterpiece that was my betting slate for that card.

~UFC Vegas 92~
Bang average card, and even worse from a betting perspective from the looks of these money lines! Honestly I don’t even know why anyone would read this from someone who just took as many consecutive Ls as I just did, but thanks for sticking around if you did. It probably won’t be a massive slate for me here anyway.
(also all breakdowns were written before UFC STL so the self-loathing stops here)

~Edson Barboza v Lerone Murphy~
Full disclosure, all my betting life I have been very keen to fade British fighters, despite being from the UK myself. The talent pool is just objectively smaller, the lack of combat sports in our school curriculum means fighters have less overall experience and years in competition, as well as the media’s and the UFC’s infatuation with hyping up any fighter from this country overall means that fading has been a net positive investment over the years. When it comes to betting lines, the oddsmakers in this country always hang the UK fighters out at slightly shorter prices too, because obviously that’s where the money is almost always going to go. I know I always did that.
Whilst we’re talking about betting, I’ll take the opportunity to get in a quick victory lap about Edson Barboza, who I confidently bet as an underdog to Sodiq Yusuff. The reads I made in for that fight almost looked like I’d seen it before, and it was probably my best bet of 2023 from a pure analytical perspective. Good times.
Edson Barboza has managed to turn incredibly underrated in recent years, mostly due to the fact he’s old and has been mauled a few performances lately. The blueprint to beat him is very clear - you either to go balls to the wall, crowd/pressure him and finish him early, or you cardio-wrestle him for 15/25 minutes.
It sounds quite simple, but both of those lanes require quite specific skillsets. They are obviously skillsets that Khabib, Tony Ferguson, Bryce Mitchell, Kevin Lee and Gaethje possess naturally, which explains 5 of his eight losses in recent years. The losses to Dan Ige and Paul Felder were scored terribly and should have been wins for Edson…and the remaining loss was to Giga Chikadze, which is the only time I think he’s been outclassed in what could be called an “even” fight on paper. Another key thing to note is that Edson is so explosive and dangerous that he has also managed to still score wins against fighters that do fit the stylistic blueprint to be able to make life difficult for him. People like Benny Dariush, Shane Burgos and Billy Quarantillo. But he finished all three of them. Another thing to note is that the calibre of every single name mentioned is very high.
So how does Lerone Murphy measure up against these blueprints? Well right off the bat his record shows he’s capable of a KO win, but it’s not a super reliable method and isn’t particularly process driven (IE it doesn’t come from him smothering his opponent with suffocating pressure early). In fact, his finish of Ricardo Ramos came from some surprisingly effective ground and pound, and the knee against Amirkhani was a fortuitous impact, in a fight where he was expected to find the finish against a guy with the ‘1 round of resilience’ curse.
So how about the wrestling/top control route? Well as previously mentioned Murphy showed some dangerousness in the way he finished Ramos in a grappling position, and his performance against Josh Culibao also shows that it’s his best chance of beating Edson. I have been impressed with his grappling ability in the UFC so far. He’s not a pure takedown artist though, and has averaged just 1.29 takedowns per 15 minutes inside the UFC. In that Culibao fight he was keen to clinch up, but took advantage of Culibao turning his back in the second. The third round was dominant for Murphy in regards to the grappling, but it all stemmed from him landing a body shot that pretty much compromised Culibao and turned him into a ragdoll for more than three minutes in the round. If all you do is look at UFCStats for that fight, then Murphy looks like Khabib…but the tape shows a very different story. He also probably should have gotten the finish there if we’re being critical!
I understand that Lerone Murphy is undefeated (although if you ask me he lost that Tukhugov debut, not that it matters), and has shown good moments from top position, but does doing that against a compromised Josh Culibao and Ricardo Ramos really justify you being the favourite against Edson Barboza? Edson’s fought the cream of the crop in the UFC since day one – his three most underwhelming results were losses to Jamie Varner, Donald Cerrone and Michael Johnson…that’s how ELITE the competition he’s faced has been. And even though he’s a bit long in the tooth he’s showing that he can still hang with guys at this level, like he did with Sodiq. Personally I think Yusuff is a more dangerous fighter for him than Lerone, who doesn’t appear to have that kind of imposing and dangerous striking style.
I think this betting line is putting so much unwarranted faith in Lerone Murphy. Yes, he could turn out to be a great prospect that enters the top 5 of the division one day, but we have not seen him show anywhere near the level of competence to be expected to beat Barboza more times than not. Stylistically, he doesn’t have anything that gives an immediate advantage against Barboza (at least nothing I could trust him to lean on for 25 minutes), the only angle there is age. Yes Barboza is getting a bit old and shopworn, but he’s still beating younger guys consistently. Also, whilst we’re talking about intangibles, Barboza is very experienced in five round fights, and the extra two rounds allow him back into the fight should his weakness towards early pressure show itself.
I’d say Edson should be around -150 here. The line available feels unsubstantiated and purely based on the age dynamic, as I have not seen anything from tape that implies Lerone Murphy is up to the task. He barely got past Gabriel Santos last year.
I had a great time betting Barboza as a dog last time, so I’m doing it again. 1u on Edson Barboza to Win at +125 or better. The line looks to be moving in Lerone’s favour at the moment so I will wait to bet this.
How I line this fight: Edson Barboza -150 (60%), Lerone Murphy +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: 1u Edson Barboza to Win (+XXX)
Prop leans: None

Khaos Williams v Carlston Harris
Pretty awful Co-Main Event. It’s a fun fight but neither man is really considered one-to-watch and they’ve barely fought once each in the last year. You telling me they couldn’t have found a better fight to go on the poster for this one?
Anyway, both men are a little bit wild on the feet, but Harris is clearly the less technical and defensively sound of the two.
Williams kind of forged his path in the UFC with KO victories, but when forced to be technical across 15 minutes he gives a decent enough account of himself (I’ve tried to fade him twice in that type of bout, against Randy Brown and Matt Semelsberger). He’s clearly going to look much better when he can find finishes, but I think I still expect him to be the more eye-catching fighter if this one is a 15 minute kickboxing affair.
But that’s the problem here…Carlston Harris’ grappling game is the strongest skillset that either man possesses, and it’s whether or not he can get it going that will likely determine who wins this one. Unfortunately, we have only seen Williams taken down twice in the UFC, both times by Michel Pereira (who isn’t even much of a wrestlegrappler himself). To make matters worse, they both came in the 14^th and 15^th minutes of the fight and we barely got to see anything, so they really are low quality examples.
I’ve been watching MMA long enough to know that a guy like Khaos Williams probably isn’t a particularly amazing grappler, but of course that’s still a huge assumption to make. With no knowledge of how Khaos is going to fare working off his back, I really do not think this fight is one that you can have any degree of confidence in. The books had initially lined it around a pick’em, which could well imply that they feel the exact same way. It’s unfortunately a pass from me, because a Williams with great TDD and process on bottom could end up being -300…but white belt Williams could look +300.
How I line this fight: Impossible to line with any confidence, so a pick’em is fine.
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None

~Angela Hill v Luana Pinheiro~
After chasing it for quite some time, MMA bettors finally managed to catch the fade on Luana Pinheiro. When she entered the UFC she was discredited for her exclusively R1 finishes, with people predicting her cardio would not be up to scratch. Things got worse when she took the coward’s way to a win against Jessica Penne – seemingly blowing her gas and then milking the extent of the damage done from an illegal strike and winning by KO. As we know from the MMA community, doing stuff like that will make you one of the most hated fighters on the roster. She then moved to 2-0 with a split decision win as a favourite against Michelle Waterson…which many people think she lost. Basically, not a very impressive stint in the UFC so far.
Finally she went up against Amanda Ribas, who went on to expose that dodgy cardio of Pinheiro, melting her in the third round with a beautiful wheel kick when Pinheiro was death gassed. Now we know it’s possible, the third round of Pinheiro’s fight against Waterson-Gomez makes a bit more sense, seeing as Waterson took over and clearly won it.
Nothing kills a hype train quicker than realising that a fighter has bad cardio, and it’s safe to say that whatever hype there was on Luana (minimal) is dead…because she’s a +125 underdog to Angela Hill here.
In my opinion, Angela Hill has been an incredibly underrated fighter for such a long time and absolutely deserves her flowers as one of WMMA’s most respected journeywomen. She’s had 24 UFC fights, and she’s still showing up better than fighters much younger than her and doesn’t appear to even be slowing down.
The blueprint on Hill has been pretty clear for some time – if you want to beat her relatively easily, you take her down. Otherwise, you’re going up against technically impressive striker that has the durability, a sneaky bit of power and seemingly limitless cardio to keep you honest. Really, if you manage to have success against Angela Hill on the feet, the best thing you can really hope for is about 55% of dominance (typically where two judges score one way, and another goes the opposite).
As I often say, statistics for MMA are best used when comparing WMMA strikers, and the figures here are quite eye-opening. Hill’s strike differential is vastly superior, and their defensive rates are very close. In short, if they stay on the feet for 15 minutes I think Hill should be expected to out-volume her opponent. When you factor in Pinheiro’s cardio deficiencies, that’s even more likely.
Therefore, Pinheiro has two routes to success here in my opinion – her typical R1 finish, or by going the grappling route. Firstly, Hill has never been finished via (T)KO in 29 professional fights (most of which have come at a high level), so I think it’s fair to say she deserves trust in being able to stay safe. She’s also quite an intelligent fighter, so I assume she’s going to be aware that her success will come in the latter half of the fight.
In terms of the grappling, Pinheiro landed five takedowns in the opening round against Markos, and that’s what forced her to gas out…so I don’t really think she’s going to be comfortable enough to lean on that skillset for 15 minutes straight. Hill is defensively quite sound on the mat as well, so as long as she can avoid getting stuck in a position I think she’ll be fine.
So in short, the only skillset I think Luana Pinheiro deserves credit for at this level is her R1 explosiveness, and Angela Hill is one of the worst opponents to pit that style against. Hill’s last victory proves that, as she survived the early barrage of another R1 finisher and took over in R2/3. I think the exact same mission statement applies here, and I think Angela Hill should definitely be trusted to do that. I’d personally line Hill somewhere like -175 to -200 here, so the -137 available at the time of writing was an easy bet to make. Let’s go Angie! 2u Angela Hill to Win at -137.
How I line this fight: Angela Hill -188 (65%), Luana Pinheiro +188 (35%)
Bet or pass: 2u Angela Hill to Win (-137), 0.25u Angela Hill to Win by Decision (+125 or better)
Prop leans: Hill couldn’t finish her dinner, so the decision prop will be one to look out for.
Live Betting Leans: If Pinheiro wins R1 and goes a bit crazy in trying to find a finish, betting Hill on the stool before R2 is a good move as the cardio fall-off could be live.

~Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius Salvador~
This feels like a weird mismatch and I don’t know why it’s happening.
Adrian Yanez is a classy and technical striker that I feel has become a bit overrated. The fans love him and put him on a pedestal as some sort of elite fighter’s fighter – I get that he’s fun to watch and a good boxer, but I’d argue he’s had more underwhelming performances than good in the UFC. He got styled on by Font and Martinez, was competitive against Davey Grant and lost more minutes than he won against Randy Costa. There’s not much shame in that and I’m not trying to say Yanez is bad, but I don’t think those performances warrant him being regarded as one of the most popular unranked fighters on the roster.
He faces Vinicius Salvador, who looked like an exciting fighter from his DWCS victory, but there was always a suspicion that he would have very little to offer outside of barn burners and very early KOs. The UFC pissed away the chance for a fan-friendly prelim guy by putting him up against two of the scrappiest and most durable guys at Flyweight – Victor Altamirano and CJ Vergara. The path to victory for both men was very clear there, and they grinded out long-distance victories after Salvador had nothing to offer after five minutes.
The UFC should have instantly viewed Salvador the same as they do Trevor Peek. Someone who is hilariously flawed but scrappy and entertaining to watch nonetheless. His striking style is unorthodox and weird, which looks great when he’s the hammer but awful when he’s the nail. Against a fighter as scrappy and technical sound a boxer as Yanez, this obviously seems like a tall order.
But ironically, whilst this is the toughest opponent Salvador has faced so far in his career, it’s probably his most winnable fight too. Yanez will oblige him in providing a war for the fans, which will give Salvador his chance to land that early KO. Yanez also been pieced up twice in a row so durability could also be a bit more questionable. Yes there is a massive gap in technique and overall skill…but one clean right hand can trump all of that, and Yanez can be hit by one.
Yanez is a -350 favourite here, which is a very easy way to put that final nail in the coffin of considering betting him. Whilst I do think he probably deserves to be close to that number in terms of his overall winning probability, it really won’t take much for the tables to turn massively here, so risking -350 seems like a terrible idea.
A bet on Salvador on the return is too ugly to stomach though, because he could also get absolutely styled on. It’s an easy pass all round.
How I line this fight: Adrian Yanez -250 (71%), Vinicius Salvador +250 (29%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: FDGTD very likely but doubt the price is at all playable.

~Oumar Sy v Antonio Trocoli~
We’re all jealous of Antonio Trocoli, AKA Mr Mackenzie Dern. I’ve probably got more to say about her than I do about this fight.
I’m obviously not going to do any tape for this fight, so the only thing of note from their records is that Trocoli has regional loses to Dhiego Lima (pre-UFC) and Jacob ‘Christmas’ Volkmann (post-UFC), both of which are pretty concerning losses. He also popped for steroids on DWCS, so who knows how good he actually is when he’s clean.
Sy is a terrifying specimen of a man, with a 9-0 record by KO/SUB/DEC. I suppose this is a good time to remind you that William Knight also looked like a god.
Why would you bet this fight? Just pass and take the info we get here into their next appearances.
How I line this fight: I’d have more confidence in my ability to hook up with Mackenzie Dern than my ability to accurate cap this fight.
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: Over 1.5 Mackenzie Dern sightings (-200)

~Emily Ducote v Vanessa Demopoulos~
Two very middle-of-the-road WMMA fighters that I am quite familiar with.
Demopoulos got to the dance via her grappling and submission ability, but has spent time honing her skills on the feet that she actually seems to have abandoned a grappling based approach entirely, having landed an average of 0.49 takedowns per 15 mins in her UFC/DWCS career so far. On the feet, she’s scrappy and actually does hit kind of hard, but the technique is still very much a work in progress. She makes up for the lack of finesse with pure enthusiasm and grit, and will stay in her opponent’s face and swing until the final bell. She’s also pretty durable too, having never lost by finish in 15 fights with striking that’s that sketchy.
Emily Ducote is kind of the polar opposite. She’s a dedicated striker that has decent enough grappling defence. She has little to no power in her hands, but she’s reliable to rack up decent volume and can keep it up across 15 minutes. She has landed 100+ significant strikes in 3 of her 4 UFC bouts, but she’s also absorbed 100+ in 3 too.
The summary of this one is that Ducote is just the cleaner striker of the two, but I think this -330 price tag is a bit ridiculous. Yes, comparing the stats makes it seem that Ducote will win easily, but Demopoulos has faced quite a few opponents that have wanted to grapple her, and her Strikes landed per minute figures are skewed as a result. Given that Ducote absorbs a similar number to what she lands, I think Demopoulos’ enthusiasm should see her land far more than she has done before. Also, Demopolous’ fight metrics are often inferior to her opponents in all of the fights she loses, so the stats do her a major disservice to how competitive she can be.
I always say that there’s a real ceiling in regards to how much you can favour a striking based WMMA fighter if they have no power or finishing ability. The judges do not score technique, so the 50+ pitter patter punches they land can easily be trumped by any instance where it looks like they get hurt on the return, so in this instance I think Vanessa’s power and forward pressure could be enough to make rounds closer than the odds suggest they should be.
In short, Ducote price is nuts but she should probably win so definitely deserves to be favoured. I wouldn’t bet anything here other than FGTD, which could be a decent parlay piece anywhere less than -400. I’d be interested to see what Ducote by Decision looks like because I do rate Demopolous’ durability and see it going the distance quite frequently…so +100 or better would get my money.
How I line this fight: Emily Ducote -250 (71%), Vanessa Demopoulos +250 (29%)
Bet or pass: 1u Emily Ducote to Win by Decision (+100 or better)
Prop leans: See above

~Ramiz Brahimaj v Themba Gorimbo~
Stylistically this is a very funny fight, because it’s between two guys whose strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same. They’re both aggressive grapplers with average to bad striking, and they’ll hunt for the finish from the opening bell…and fall off a cliff at the halfway point if they can’t find it.
Themba Gorimbo is unfortunately completely unbettable at this stage in his career, I think. He’s obviously got this narrative with The Rock going on, and it’s somehow managed to turn him from a sub-par, barely UFC quality fighter that can’t beat AJ Fletcher, to someone whose fame actually manages to transcend MMA a little bit. Just goes to show how important those post-fight interviews can be! That popularity obviously swells his betting line as he’s likely to garner more money and attention from bettors, whereas Brahimaj is a nobody unless you’re a hardcore with a good memory. Couple that with the fact Themba’s style is not sustainable across 15 minutes, and you’ve got a fighter with a very limited path to victory that you can rely on, who comes with an eye-watering price tag.
Whilst Brahimaj’s betting line would lean towards the value side due to Thema’s popularity, this is the first time we have seen him compete in over two years. He was a fighter that came in during COVID times, and immediately got thrown into the deep end when matchmaking was difficult. I bet Max Griffin against him due to Max’s durability (IE my bet was ‘Max to survive and turn the tables’), and it resulted in Griffin slicing Ramiz’s ear in half with an elbow (one of the more gruesome moments we have ever seen in the cage). Ramiz managed to hit is PTV against Micheal Gillmore (the runt of the litter in a season of TUF who had no right competing in the UFC. The only interesting thing about him was that his parents couldn’t even spell his own name ), as well as Sasha Palatnikov. When facing a veteran grappler like Court McGee, I also won a bet backing the experience and durability of a guy like Court (which is ironic given I’ve bet on Court to be KO’d in his last two).
So basically, my summary here is that Thembo deserves to be favoured simply by being more proven and in the better recent form. He’s got good enough grappling all round to be able to stop Ramiz from being so dominant as a round one buzzsaw, and unless Brahimaj has made some major changes in the two years off, Themba’s probably got the slightly superior cardio (by a bit) and therefore should still be around once his opponent fades.
The -275 betting line is absurd though, as I mentioned earlier, because there’s a likelihood that Themba gasses out himself too, and it could easily be Brahimaj that’s fresher in the latter stages, should we get there. Therefore, it’s a very easy pass. I will take a look at the round props as there could potentially be an angle on some sort of combination, but we will see.
How I line this fight: Themba Gorimbo -200 (67%), Ramiz Brahimaj +200 (33%)
Bet or pass: Fight to End in Rounds 2 or 3 (price dependent), or something like that
Prop leans: See above

~Tom Nolan v Victor Martinez~
I’m bored of saying it, but Jesus Christ the calibre of a ‘UFC Fighter’ is just so low these days. Tom Nolan just got knocked out in 63 seconds as a -350 favourite to Nikolas Motta (shoutout to me for sort of predicting that), and Victor Martinez’s UFC debut saw him get knocked out cold by JORDAN LEAVITT.
So what do you do, bet at -350 on an unproven fighter who shat the bed at the exact same price tag last time? Or trust a guy who got put to sleep by the hands of Jordan Leavitt?
Obviously, you pass. If I see a single parlay screenshot with Nolan in it this weekend I will lose all hope.
How I line this fight: I like my chances of pulling Mackenzie Dern for a second time, more than I like my chances of lining this fight accurately.
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: See above

~Abus Magomedov v Warlley Alves~
Abus Magomedov needs to fire his manager. He started off his UFC career with a highlight reel KO inside 20 seconds, and had the world at his feet. Then he gets a main event spot against Sean Strickland. Fair enough taking an opportunity, but trying to speed run the rankings is a terrible idea when you consider all they want to do these days is play monopoly and generate stars. It’s much better to KO bums in the prelims and get paid a 50k bonus a few times than do what he did against Strickland…because look who he got for his third fight after losing in embarrassing fashion - Caio Borralho, who is lowkey one of the best prospects in the UFC at the moment in my opinion. Abus basically went from prospect to fodder when he lost to Strickland, and I wouldn’t expect him to stick around in the UFC for too much longer if he doesn’t start delivering early KOs again.
He should be able to get the better of Warlley Alves though. Alves looks hella old and shopworn, despite only being 33 years old somehow. He has ridden the coattails of having a win against Colby Covington on his record for his entire career, because he’s done nothing remarkable with it since. His loss to James Krause was the fight where it was apparent Alves was on the decline, and a ‘loser leaves town’ win against the equally old and frail Sergio Moraes was the only thing keeping him afloat. He scored a shock upset KO via body kicks against Mounir Lazzez (who turned out to be a bit of a fraud anyway), but the writing has been on the wall for Warlley for some time. Fast forward a few years and he's on a threefight losing streak again, having been beaten down pretty badly and finished in under 1.5 rounds in four of his last five losses.
That’s a key piece of info for this one, because we know Abus’ limitations revolve around him being a great early fighter with terrible and unsustainable levels of cardio. When looking at Abus’ fights, you need to decipher the chances of him winning early, and that will explain the rest.
Given Alves’ frailty, I think this is a pretty generous fight for Magomedov – possibly the most appropriate and tailor-made matchup they could have found for him!
His winning probability relies heavily on doing work early, so naturally betting Abus R1/2 KO would be the obvious go to. I’m not sure there will be any value on that prop though, because it’s a pretty obvious angle that everyone’s going to try and take. However, I’ve long known that Bet365’s Bet Builder product is broken when combining Winner + Total Rounds, especially before they release the rest of the props as it’s completely out of context…so Backing Abus to Win and Under 1.5 Rounds at the right time could produce a valuable price before it gets corrected. That’s all I’ll be looking to play for this fight, assuming those early Abus props are rubbish. Be careful what price is available if you’re considering this, it’s going to be much shorter than normal and it’s a very limited window to be betting on.
How I line this fight: Abus Magomedov -250 (71%), Warlley Alves +250 (29%)
Bet or pass: Abus Magomedov to Win & Under 1.5 Rounds (+125 or better)
Prop leans: See Above
Live Betting Leans: I’d take a look at Alves on the stool after R1, but I don’t think I could trust him really.

~Piera Rodriguez v Ariane Carnelossi~
Ariane Carnelossi returns after two years on the sidelines. I’ve always jokingly been a fan of her, because that fight against Na Liang (the first UFC Fight back with fans after COVID) was genuinely one of the highlights of 2021 and it was such a fun fight with a crazy energy. Also helps that I bet her heavily in that.
Carnelossi’s a decent striker that actually hung with Angela Hill back in the day, but her wrestling defence is a clear weak point. She got absolutely ragdolled in one of the best UFC performances I can remember when she faced Loopy Godinez, and even Na Liang had some success in that opening round. She’s not a fish off her back or anything, but if you can’t defend takedowns and your opponent has the cardio and ability to chain takedowns together…you’re going to struggle.
Piera Rodriguez is a pretty well-rounded fighter, she’s decent enough in the striking realm and has a diverse arsenal with kicks and a whole lot of feints, but she’s also a decent enough grappler that can commit to that multiple takedown approach. She’s landed three or more in each of her UFC/DWCS victories and just generally does a good job of showcasing herself to be a well-rounded mixed martial artist. My biggest criticism of her is that she does look to have slight signs of bad cardio, as her third rounds against both Hughes and Hansen were a bit laboured and slow.
So initially this fight was lined as a clear pick’em, which I didn’t agree with at all. Whilst Carnelossi should be able to show some competitiveness, her inability to defend takedowns should see her on the back foot for a fair bit of this fight, and her desire to land the knockout with every punch she throws could even see her lose moments on the feet to Piera’s kicking game and more technical style. Carnelossi does have a bit of a cardio advantage though, which Piera will have to navigate, but other than that I think the Venezuelan should be given the nod as a moderate favourite, probably around -175. Considering I got Piera at -120, I thought that was worthy of a 2u bet. If the line continues to move though, I may arb out as I think -175 is a very fair number.
How I line this fight: Piera Rodriguez -175 (64%), Ariane Carnelossi +175 (36%)
Bet or pass: 2u Piera Rodriguez to Win (-120)
Prop leans: Probably a decision win for Piera, Carnelossi is dedicated and Piera not much of a finisher.

~Alatengheili v Kleydson Rodrigues~
I write the same synopsis for Alatengheili because the guy never changes. Here’s a paragraph from his last fight that I wrote:
Alatengheili is one of the most frustrating talents I’ve seen in MMA in recent years. He was once the number three freestyle wrestler in China and looks to actually have a really promising wrestling game…but he just doesn’t fight like it! In his UFC debut, he faced a clearly superior striker and waited until round 3 to start shooting religiously (no attempts in R1 or 2, 7 attempts in R3). After that, he did exactly the same again in a split decision win against Ryan Benoit (1 TD attempt in R1, none in R2, and 12 in R3). He then faced Casey Kenny, who is a great defensive grappler…and decided not to attempt a takedown. Then he faced Gustavo Lopez, who took HIM down three times from eight attempts, and none from Alatenheili. He went on to beat Kevin Croom in under a minute on the feet, then went back to his regular style of waiting until R3 for takedowns when he beat Chad Anheliger. In the Gutierrez fight that followed, he attempted four takedowns and landed two. These all came in – you guessed it- round three.
So I think it’s fair to assume that we can’t call Alatengheili much of a wrestler anymore. When he’s striking on the feet, he’s clearly got some power in a big wind up shot, but other than that it’s quite flat footed and low volume stuff. Those aren’t particularly good qualities, as he’s hardly demonstrating a clear killer instinct that makes up for bad minute winning fundamentals.
Kleydson Rodrigues is a guy I was quite excited about when he got to the UFC. He looked great on DWCS, but immediately had a tough test against CJ Vergara in his debut. I do personally think he won that fight, but CJ’s pace, pressure and tenacity got the better of him down the stretch and made that fight close. He returned and obliterated Shannon Ross, before being steamrolled on the mat by Farid Basharat. A real mixed bag of results, overall.
The thing is, I don’t exactly think that the losses Rodrigues suffered are directly relevant here, as Farid’s topside grappling is way way better than Alateng’s. The Mongolian also doesn’t have the forward pressure or pace of CJ Vergara, due to how flat footed he is.
On the flipside, Alatengheili has struggled against fighters who technically outclass him on the feet, or those with good takedown defence. The Mongolian has proven to be a tough fighter to put away, which should give him a chance to take over at the midway point.
Comparatively, I think Kleydson Rodrigues has shown himself to be a higher calibre striker than Alatenheili, and clearly the more diverse one. Kleydson also throws a lot of low kicks, which are a key weapon when trying to nullify the grappling threat of the already flat footed power puncher.
In conclusion, I just think Kleydson Rodrigues outclasses Alatengheili in the striking, whereas I don’t think the Mongolian outclasses him anywhere on the return. The Mongolian has proven he is keen to stay on the feet for the majority of fights, which should leave the door wide open for Kleydson to win minutes. The cardio advantage does lie with Alateng, but I don’t think he pushes enough of a pace in the grappling or striking department to make Kleydson fade like he did against CJ (who is one of the more suffocating guys in the division). Also, Alateng’s grappling threat in R3 may well be nullified by the 10 minutes of leg kick investment that Kleydson has already made.
So as you can probably tell, I favour Kleydson Rodrigues in this one. I personally thought he should be a -200 favourite, so I was expecting to pass on this one…but it looks like the BetOnline moneyline is moving towards -150. For some strange reason the fight is barely available in the UK for now, but I’m hoping that -150 would be available for me to bet for 2u.
How I line this fight: Kleydson Rodrigues -200 (67%), Alatengheili +200 (33%)
Bet or pass: 2u Kleydson Rodrigues to Win (-160 or better)
Prop leans: None
Live Betting Leans: If it’s 1-1 going into the third and there’s been a pace…I’d recommend betting Alatengheili.

~Tamires Vidal v Melissa Gatto~
Melissa Gatto is a competent and well-rounded fighter. She went to competitive decisions with Tracey Cortez and Ariane Lipski. She is UFC quality.
Tamires Vidal is a plodding fighter that doesn’t appear to be very good at defensive grappling. She went to a competitive decision against Montserrat Rendon. She is not UFC quality.
Gatto is -400. It’s a very steep price to pay but I don’t think it’s too far off where it ought to be – she should be able to point strike on the feet and have very decent grappling success, where she can definitely fish for a submisison. I’d be interested in seeing what the price on Gatto by Submission is though, so I may be looking to play that.
How I line this fight: Tamires Vidal +300 (25%), Melissa Gatto -300 (75%)
Bet or pass: Xu Melissa Gatto to Win by Submission (+300 or better)
Prop leans: See above

Bets (Bold = been placed)
2u Edson Barboza to Win (+130)
2u Angela Hill to Win (-137)
2u Piera Rodriguez to Win (-120)
2u Kleydson Rodrigues to Win (-150)
Xu Emily Ducote to Win by Decision (+100 or better)
1u Abus Magomedov to Win & Under 1.5 Rounds (+100 or better)
Xu Melissa Gatto to Win by Submmission (+300 or better)
0.25u Parlay Pieces (not bet yet)
Parlay Pieces: Angela Hill, Emily Ducote, Abus Magomedov, Kleydson Rodgriguez, Melissa Gatto
Dog of the Week: Edson Barboza

The Slate on 25 Apartments are brand new and reading through the Google reviews you'll miss out on two very important things. On the Slate on 25 website, it says, quote:

• Pet Friendly Areas: Dog Wash Station and Pet Park
• Resort Style Outdoor Pool

The apartment literally has no grass. And this is not hyperbole, there are literally no patches of grass. Now, at some point, they may eventually build a pet part with grass, but it's still not there and buildings are already filled up with tenants, many of whom has dogs with nowhere to go but pavement and rocks.
Also, the pool is extremely small for an entire apartment complex. The pool would be moderately sized for a home of a family of four. And it's a fairly standard looking pool - not that it's even open yet. So resort style is a stretch.

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