Preview: UFC Atlanta Prelims

Women's Flyweights
Jamey-Lyn Horth (7-2) vs. Vanessa Demopoulos (11-7)

Odds: Horth (-520), Demopoulos (+390)

It might not be all that exciting in practice, but a late-notice pairing here should at least be a well-matched affair. Typically a strawweight, Vanessa Demopoulos came to the UFC in 2021 with an interesting grab bag of skills; a stocky ball of muscle, Demopoulos's background in pole dancing also made her a surprisingly flexible grappler, resulting in a combination of impressive submission skills and awkward but high-powered striking. That resulted in a surprisingly hot streak of five wins in six fights at one point, as Demopoulos could either find a submission or simply out-hustle and overpower worse athletes with less focused games. But she's now hit a cold stretch with two straight losses, as she's gotten some particularly rough matchups against better grapplers that can match her in terms of athleticism.

Demopoulos should be the more dynamic fighter here, but Horth still figures to be a rough assignment, particularly with Demopoulos moving up to 125 pounds against one of the division's sturdiest fighters. Horth has chugged along doing what she can in four trips to the Octagon thus far, with her best success usually coming when she can take the fight out of the fight; the Canadian's gameplan doesn't seem to be built around playing neutralizer, but that's usually where things wind up as Horth's size and strength simply stall out her opponents' clinch and wrestling offense. That seems to be the likeliest scenario here, as Demopoulos's usual horsepower advantage doesn't appear to exist -- even if the American does have the best chance of finding a sudden submission than any of Horth's UFC opponents to date. The pick is Horth via decision.

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Horth vs. Demopoulos