Entering 2022 coming off a loss in her previous bout, strawweight Vanessa Demopoulos was in need of a win against Silvana Gomez Juarez at UFC 270 this past January to not only kick her year off on the right foot but also get herself back on track.
In just over two minutes, Demopoulos was able to pick up a submission victory over Juarez and prove she can bounce back in the face of difficulty.
“UFC 270 was an amazing night for me,” Demopoulos told MMAWeekly.com. “I think it really showed me overcoming adversity and my ability to fight through situations.
“I did get caught, so it was something to grow from, and showing that there’s nothing really that’s going to stop me, at all. It’s pretty scary for anyone standing across the cage from me.”
Something that Demopoulos feels like will help her in her bouncing back is the fact she now looks at the finer details of the fight game more than she did in the past.
“Now that I’m doing a lot of fight analytics I see a lot of the important details that maybe weren’t so present to me before I started analyzing fights,” said Demopoulos. “I get to see things with a fresh perspective and fresh eyes and have been able to take that into my training as well.”
This Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, Demopoulos (7-4) will look to pick up her second win in a row when she faces Jinh Yu Frey (11-6) in a preliminary 115-pound bout at UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot.
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“I’ve really been focusing on myself and my growth as an athlete and being able to be sharper and be more skilled and more well-rounded, so I’m looking forward to this fight and seeing everything that we’ve worked so hard on,” Demopoulos said.
“Whatever shows through is what I’m happy for. I’m really well-rounded, so I’m looking forward to a having fun and playing out whatever opportunity presents themselves.”
While she has personal plans ahead of her that could limit the amount of times she fights in the second half of 2022, Demopoulos is looking to return to action before year’s end.
“Fighting two times would be ideal, but I promised my family I would take a vacation back to Greece,” said Demopoulos. “So if I can get in two fights that would be a dream, but definitely one more fight before the end of the year.”