Women’s strawweight action is set for next month’s UFC Vegas 80.
The Fight Night card will see former 115lb title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz (15-7), on a bit of a career resurgence of late, taking on Canadian-based Romanian Diana Belbita (15-7). The event takes place October 7, 2023 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada — and yes, there will have been 80 of those Apex shows once the event rolls around.
News of the booking was revealed when the bout was recently added to the official line-up of UFC broadcast partner ESPN. Kowalkiewicz and Belbita both confirmed the match-up on social media.
Belbita was last in action at UFC 289 in Vancouver, picking up a decision victory over Maria Oliveira to snap a two-fight skid. The win was Belbita’s second in the UFC, improving her record to 2-3 overall.
Now 27, the Romanian joined the UFC in 2019, losing a decision to Molly McCann in her debut after having a point deducted for grabbing the cage.
Coincidentally sporting an identical 15-7 professional record to that of her opponent, Kowalkiewicz has won thee straight fights dating back to June of 2022. That run has put thoughts of a nasty five-fight skid well behind her, with the Polish strawweight looking reinvigorated of late.
In her last outing, Kowalkiewicz earned a unanimous decision over Vanessa Demopoulos.
UFC Vegas 80 on October 7, 2023 features a lightweight bout featuring Grant Dawson and Bobby Green as its main event. The following match-ups have been reported for the card to date:
- Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green
- Joe Pyfer vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
- Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn
- Alexander Hernandez vs. Bill Algeo
- Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Aori Qileng
- Kanako Murata vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
- Chris Gutiérrez vs. Montel Jackson
- Daniel Pineda vs. Khusein Askhabov
- Nate Maness vs. Mateus Mendonca
- Ion Cuțelaba vs.Philipe Lins
- Montana De La Rosa vs. Stephanie Egger
- Alex Morono vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Diana Belbita
