UFC strawweight Silvana Juarez will be stepping in for Ashley Yoder to face Vanessa Demopoulos at the first UFC event of the year on January 15.
Vanessa Demopoulos will have a new opponent for her second UFC outing, as ESPN Deportes reports that Silvana Juarez will be stepping in for an injured Ashley Yoder. The fight is still scheduled to take place on January 15.
Demopoulos (6-4) will be looking to record her first UFC victory as she returns to her natural weight class of 115 pounds after moving up in weight on several days notice for her teammate Tracy Cortez to take on JJ Aldrich in August. “Lil Monster” previously won the LFA title against current UFC fighter Sam Hughes. Demopoulos has faced the likes of current UFC fighters Lupita Godinez, Cory McKenna, Katlyn Chookagian, and Cheyanne Buys across her time in LFA, Dana White’s Contender Series, and her amateur career.
Silvana Gomez Juarez (10-3) is looking for her first UFC victory as well after previously getting called up to replace the aforementioned Sam Hughes against Lupita Godinez in early October after previously preparing for the Contender Series. Juarez lost the fight by first round armbar. “La Malvada” previously built up her career with fights in her native Argentina but also had appearances in Mexico’s LUX Fight League and the Polish promotion KSW where she challenged then champion and current UFC fighter Ariane Lipski.
The event is scheduled to be headlined by a featherweight bout between surging contender Giga Chikadze and the hard-hitting Calvin Kattar. No location for the event has been made official, although it is expected that it will take place in Las Vegas.
