UFC Vegas 65: Demopoulos vs Oliveira
Although UFC 281 was an incredible card with a record breaking number of first round finishes in one night, the promotion will not take a break. This upcoming Saturday we’re treated with a sneaky good fight night card headlined by one of the most well known finishers, Derrick Lewis. He is set to face Sergey Spivak who is another knockout artist in the heavyweight division. The third fight on the prelims is an underrated matchup between two strawweights Vanessa Demopoulos and Maria Oliveira.
I have yet to write about fighters that have newly emerged on the big stage but this match up caught my attention due to the styles that these two women possess as well as the fact that the strawweight division as of late continues to provide us new contenders and prospects to keep an eye on.
Vanessa Demopoulos (8-4) is coming into her 4th fight in the UFC on a 2 fight win streak. You may remember her for her infectious personality, jumping into Joe Rogan’s arms after securing her first win in the promotion as well as jumping into Michael Bisping’s arms following her second and most recent win in the UFC. Demopoulos made her UFC debut in 2021, she is a very well rounded fighter and although she did not win her debut, she’s gone on to make quite the impression in the UFC. Half of her career wins are submission wins (4), with 3 decisions and 1 TKO on her record. Vanessa uses her pressure, cardio and toughness to her advantage but the biggest threat she brings to her opponent is her slick jiu-jitsu, which was on full display in her first win in the UFC, pulling off an armbar submission in round one against Silvana Gomez Juarez. In her last bout against Jinh Yu Frey, Vanessa came in as +190 underdog and was able to get the upset win by securing a decision against Frey. We often see Vanessa pressing forward and fighting in the pocket of her opponent because of the common reach disadvantage she has in comparison to whoever she is facing, being in the pocket of her opponent allows her to hit her target and also allows her to be in range to secure a takedown if the opportunity presents itself. Demopoulos is a fun fighter, she has been in wars with the likes of Cheyanne Vlismas & Sam Hughes, and she even fought top contender Kaitlyn Chookagain as an amateur. I believe she gets better every time she steps in the octagon and I look forward to seeing the improvements she’s made this time around for her fight against Oliveira.
Maria “Spider Girl” Oliveria (13-5) is a heavy hitter in the strawweight division, with an impactful 7 of her 13 wins being via KO/TKO. Maria made her UFC debut in 2021 and was welcomed by a tough fighter in Tabitha Ricci, whom she went to a decision with and lost on all of the judges’ scorecards. Oliveira then fought almost a year later in June of 2022 and was able to secure the first win on her UFC record, defeating Gloria De Paula via split decision. Coming into that fight, Maria was a +210 underdog. With a base in Muay Thai, Oliveira does a great job with mixing her strikes and is quite impressive in terms of her speed, landing an average of 5 strikes per minute according to her UFC stats. In her last fight with Paula, we saw her beginning the fight with a flying knee attempt followed by immediate aggression and pressure with the hands. She does not give her opponents much space to work as she is always pressing forward and applying pressure, giving her opponents a constant need to respond to her strikes accordingly. Although she is not the most technical striker when she lets go of the hands, her aggression and volume seems to work in her favor more often than not. Maria is a very exciting fighter and she has the potential of doing big things in the division as long as she can manage her pace and set up her shots with more jabs and faints. When she shows up, I believe she is a dangerous night out for anyone in the division.
This is a classic grappler versus striker match up. I think we will see a first round of these ladies trying to figure eachother out, with most of the offense being on Oliveira’s side and the defense on Demopoulos’ side, considering she is the more calculated and patient fighter of the two, in my opinion. Oliveira has a muay thai-like square stance and seems to keep her hands down by her sides while bouncing and cutting off the cage, keeping her movement at a high pace. I think this stance will somewhat benefit her in this matchup because it will be harder for Demopoulos to secure a takedown, although, the square stance with hands down leaves an opening for Demopoulos to inflict damage on the head of Oliveira. Demopoulos does not have the most clean striking, but she knows how to capitalize on an opportunity when she sees one. Although I believe it will be quite the storm for Demopoulos to weather through if Oliveira comes out with the pace and aggression that she is known to show in the first round but I believe that Demopoulos will stay patient and technical, allowing Oliveira to gas herself out in the first and capitalize on that in the second. Demopoulos has sneaky good jiu jitsu and I can see Oliveira throwing her pace and technique out of the window, as she has done in the past. Against a talented grappler like Vanessa, who has faced higher competition since the beginning of her career, I believe that Oliveira’s lack of patience will be her downfall. Demopoulos has yet to be finished in her professional career and I think that she has the advantage here considering she has great cardio and pace, enough fight IQ and toughness to keep up with Oliveira on the feet, as well as a significant advantage on the ground if she can get the fight to the mat. I have to pick the underdog Vanessa Demopoulos here as she has more ways to win and seems to be riding a good wave of momentum lately. I predict that although it may not be pretty, Vanessa will navigate her way through the storm of the first round against Maria and use her cardio and technical advantage to find an opening to submit her in the second.
Prediction:
Vanessa Demopoulos via Submission in Round 2
(Please note: This prediction is not associated with the MMAPlay365 packages, subscriptions or services)