Anita Karim, Pakistan, 6-2
Pros:
-Good volume
-Physically strong
-Aggressive
Cons:
-Poor TDD
-Looping punches
-Lost off her back
The only plausible reason for Karim to make this cast is that only eight women tried out. Karim does have a story, and sometimes that’s enough to make the TUF cast. That story being that she’s the first-ever female MMA fighter from Pakistan.
Karim is a tiny strawweight, standing at just 5’0″. Sometimes a smaller stature can be useful, especially in wrestling. She’s good at getting on the inside and muscling opponents to the mat. More than likely, though, much of her success has come against low levels of competition.
On the flip side, her size doesn’t help her takedown defense. She’s fairly easy to take down and makes many technical mistakes on the mat. What I will say is that Karim fights at an aggressive pace. She’s not the cleanest striker, as her offense mostly consists of looping hooks and overhands. With her size, she can’t afford to stay at range for long, and she knows that.
I think it’s going to become evident early in the show that she can’t simply bully her way to wins against this level of competition. She would’ve been better suited for RTU, where she likely would’ve had a better chance of finding success.
