This is much more of a standalone card than Counterpunch.

The fact that this card happens before the triggering attack means that you can use it to walk through weak enemies (and kill them in your stride) or safely engage and beat tough 5+ health foes (Say there's a 6-health enemy 1 location away, to kill it you need to hit it 3 times with your machete, but you only get 2 actions to attack it, this card will cover you for that last attack).

For a character that needs to play it safe, you can see this as more of a Dodge upgrade than Counterpunch upgrade, which might be good for deckbuilding reasons.