More comfortable and confident in her position as a UFC fighter than ever before, Vanessa Demopoulos thinks she is on the cusp of starting her run to the top of the strawweight division.
With five victories in her past six octagon appearances, Demopoulos (11-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) looks to keep her momentum going when she takes on Jaqueline Amorim (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 242, which takes place Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+).
Demopoulos isn’t getting ahead of herself when it comes to career expectations, but sees big things on the horizon for herself as long as she continues down her current path.
“I have extreme power – my skills are just really incredible – I’m an amazing martial artist,” Demopoulos told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’m very complete. I have high-level black belt jiu-jitsu, I have high-level striking. I’m outstriking the strikers, I’m outgrappling the grapplers. I’m going up against world class people in each field, and beating them every time. I feel like I’m extremely well-rounded, but I’m also extremely powerful too for this division.
“I think I have a few more fights until I start thinking about champ status. First I want to get into the rankings. That would be nice. Then I can start climbing my way into bigger goals like that.”
Demopoulos, 35, got something of a late start in her MMA career, but she has caught up well. She said she is “very excited” by the task of taking on Amorim, who is a fellow former LFA champion and comes from a similar background of competitive jiu-jitsu and grappling.
Although Amorim had the more decorated grappling career, Demopoulos said she has no fear of anything her opponent presents.
“I didn’t even shutter (to accept the fight),” Demopoulos said. “I was immediately like, ‘Yes. Give me her. Please. Sign me up.’ I know she was also the LFA champion and I was the LFA champion prior. We both came from the jiu-jitsu scene. She has had more accolades from winning world titles than I have, and that’s cool. But I’ve medaled in almost every world title that I have embarked on. I took a little bit of a different path than she did. She stayed in the jiu-jitsu community and I started focusing more on MMA.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.
