JJ Aldrich put together a complete performance over the course of 15 minutes to hand Vanessa Demopoulos a loss in her promotional debut at UFC Vegas 35.
Truth be told, Vanessa Demopoulos had expected to be fighting last night. Instead, she found herself in a short-notice fight against JJ Aldrich at UFC Vegas 35 on Saturday.
Demopoulos, a former LFA strawweight champ, had come up short on the Contender Series last year. But after that setback, and the loss of her title, she bounced back in a big way in March with a highlight reel knockout under the Legacy banner. And with teammate Tracy Cortez falling out of the fight with Aldrich, there was no better opponent to step up.
In the process, however, “Lil Monster” was moving up a weight class to flyweight, against Aldrich, who was riding high off a win over Cortney Casey.
Both girls started by throwing some good punches on the feet. Aldrich, as Demopoulos came forward secured, a double leg in the middle of the cage. Demopoulos was failing to open up her guard as she had her legs locked off her back. She was keeping Aldrich close but wasn’t imposing any kind of threat. Aldrich was the one sitting in the guard landing. With a minute left, they returned to the feet. Aldrich landed a left and Demopoulos landed a few good knees to the body to end the round.
Demopoulos started round two with a failed takedown and was trying to find success in the small burst. Aldrich, fighting more calmly, landed the jab and found her rhythm as the fight went on. Aldrich was landing her left hook at will as Demopoulos declined to move her head. Demopoulos was fighting back, going forward and pushing Aldrich against the fence. With a minute left, Aldrich hurt Demopoulos with a left kick to the body. She landed a few more follow-up liver kicks and went to the head. Demopoulos was tough and made it to the bell.
In the final round, Demopoulos continued to press forward, trying to put Aldrich down. Aldrich stayed upright and got to the center. Demopoulos dove in on a leg and pulled guard letting Aldrich on top. A lot of heavy ground and pound from Aldrich before she inexplicably let Demopoulos back to the feet. More cage pressure from Demopoulos with a little over a minute left. Aldrich escaped and kept landing at range with the right jab, straight left, and a grazing head kick. Demopoulos went for another takedown at the end of the fight but nothing came from it.
JJ Aldrich def. Vanessa Demopoulos by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)
