Fatima Kline wasn’t able to do much over the holidays, thanks to having a fight to prepare for on January 11, though she did get a chance to check out some Christmas light displays. Gorging on Christmas goodies? That wasn’t happening, what with Kline facing Victoria Dudakova in the first UFC fight of 2025.
“It kind of sucks, but my weight has been coming off so good that it’s so not worth chancing. I’m happy eating what I’m eating, I’m eating a good amount, I feel good so it’s no problem,” Kline (6-1) told Cageside Press ahead of the fight.
On the bright side, Kline’s mother has promised to cook up something special after the fight. And Kline is “super-excited” to be fighting so early in the year. “It sucks not eating during the holidays, but I wanted to fight kind of where I am. I was thinking they were going to book me for March, and they offered January, and I was like ‘even better!'”
The timing of this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101 card has Kline hopeful for a busy year. “I plan on fighting, God willing I come out not hurt, at least three times next year. I get like early January, summer, and then end of the year. I think that would be awesome for me, so that’s what I’m planning.”
“I think the timeframe is literally perfect right now. I’m excited, I love being able to kick off the new year with my strawweight debut. Being first on the card, I plan on starting it with a banger.”
Kline will return to 115lbs this Saturday after stepping into the UFC on short notice last year opposite Jasmine Jasudavicius. Like many debuting short-notice athletes, Kline moved up a weight class to get her foot in the door, but didn’t get the outcome she was hoping for.
“It was 10 days’ notice, and elevation is what killed me out there,” noted Kline, adding “I think I saw a lot of good in that fight. I feel like I proved to myself that I can go out there on that short notice and do that good and almost put somebody away. So it just gave me that much more confidence that if I can do that in that time, if I have the time that I deserve than I can really put on a show.”
You might just get a show from her this Saturday in Las Vegas. Kline is a sizeable -800 favorite heading into the match-up with Dudakova.
“In a humble way, I’m used to being the favorite,” noted Kline, who was a blue chip prospect in CFFC and Invicta FC. “I feel like my resume shows that I’m supposed to be the favorite. I’m don’t think I’m a minus 800 favorite because ‘oh, she’s alright.’ I feel like I proved that I’m supposed to be that big of a favorite.”
“I never pay attention too much to those things, but I know my skill and I believe I should be the favorite. I plan on going out there as if she’s the favorite, as if she’s the best in the world, and I plan on taking her out that way. It’s super funny though. Minus 800. I don’t think I’ve ever been that much of a favorite.”
She has, actually, back on the regional scene – but in the UFC, where the skill level is that much higher, Kline is the biggest favorite on the year’s first card. Should she come out victorious, Kline is hoping for a steady climb up the strawweight ladder.
“I don’t plan on rushing my way to the top but I definitely don’t plan on taking my time and sitting around. I want to be active and I want to get in there. I definitely hopefully can plan on hopping in the top 15 as soon as possible, but no names really come to mind yet. I’m sure when they throw me some, I’ll be excited to see who it is.”
Watch our full interview with UFC Vegas 101’s Fatima Kline above.
