Preview: UFC Fight Night 229 Prelims

Women’s Strawweights

Kanako Murata (12-2, 1-1 UFC) vs. Vanessa Demopoulos (9-5, 3-2 UFC)

ODDS: Murata (-340), Demopoulos (+270)

Murata’s return after over two years on the shelf makes for an interesting fight. Hopes were high that Murata could carve out a niche in the UFC’s strawweight division. A judoka turned highly successful amateur wrestler, Murata figured to be able to use that as an escape hatch as she worked on building an effective striking game. Things went well enough in her UFC debut against Randa Markos—if nothing else, it showed that Murata has enough physicality to her frame to get some solid wins—but her sophomore effort against Virna Jandiroba was a bit of a rude awakening. Jandiroba, a grappler herself, was the much more effective striker and managed to earn an injury stoppage thanks to a deep armbar despite Murata’s efforts to continue fighting with only one arm. It will be fascinating to see how Murata has evolved in the past 28 months, as she takes on Demopoulos, who could wind up as a tricky test. Demopoulos came to the UFC as a creative submission artist who otherwise got by on her physical strength, and she has found some success despite a disjointed game. Demopoulos is an awkward striker as one of the stockiest fighters on the UFC roster but throws enough power and has enough sheer persistence that she managed to gut out three straight wins before losing to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in May. Given how Murata’s fight against Jandiroba went, there is some concern that she could leave herself open for a submission against an opponent more than willing to hunt for one. However, Demopoulos does waste a lot of time trying to make things happen from her back and does not appear to be enough of a striking threat to shake Murata off her game. The pick is Murata via decision.

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Kowalkiewicz vs. Belbita
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Murata vs. Demopoulos
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