The pair’s preliminary card strawweight bout saw Frey entering off three-straight losses, faced with an undefeated prospect out of Russia sporting a 7-0 record to start the night.

The first clinch of the fight came inside of a minute, with Dudakova closing the distance — and Frey expertly fighting off the takedown attempt that followed. Back at range, Frey landed to the body, with Dudakova keeping her guard high. Moments later, Dudakova changed levels and charged in for another takedown attempt. Again, veteran Frey foiled the attempt, eventually pushing her opponent off and going back to work with her boxing.

While Frey appeared to have the edge in the stand-up, a wrench landed in the works when the pair clashed heads, both ducking forward at the same time. Frey appeared to take the worst of the unintentional foul, and took a bit of recovery time to clear the cobwebs.

The remainder of the round played out on the feet, with Dudakova beginning to out-land Frey. Just ahead of the bell, Dudakova struck pay dirt, knocking down Frey ahead of the horn!

Frey appeared to have recovered by the second round, with her corner urging her to initiate the clinch moving forward, believing she was strong there. Heeding that advice, Frey managed to land a takedown early, with Dudakova using butterfly hooks to keep her opponent from passing. Frey eventually did make it to half-guard, and later side control, which gave her the space required to drop a few elbows.

Dudakova would later regain full guard, and threaten with upkicks at one point. She’d eventually scramble back up, but took a few shots from Frey in the process.

The third round saw some back-and-forth standup, with Frey holding her own. Dudakova had the edge in the striking exchanges however, with her jab key. She went to the body, mixing things up, which eventually led to Frey clinching up and fighting for a takedown that would not come. She earned some control time, but whether it would be enough to win a round she badly needed was a question — with the scorecards answering it in the negative, all three judges having scored the fight 29-28 for Victoria Dudakova.

Official Result: Victoria Dudakova def. Jinh Yu Frey by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Frey, a former Invicta FC atomweight champ, was eight years the elder of Reed, but has showed no signs of slowing down in her career. That was apparent in the opening round on Saturday, with Frey controlling the pace and putting Reed on her back within the first two minutes.

Reed seemed to content to stay on her back initially, eventually rolling for an arm-bar she didn’t quite have. If nothing else, the attempt got Frey off of her; they went back to the feet, where the pair traded kicks and single strikes.

A second takedown attempt followed for Frey, and though she landed it, Reed bounced right back up. On the feet, Reed fired a spinning kick and began walking Frey down. But it was Frey catching Reed on the way in with a left hand that might have been the most significant strike of the round. Another left hand landed for Frey moments later in the clinch, and combined with the takedown, that might have clinched the round for her — though an elbow from Reed did result in a hematoma forming on Frey’s forehead.

Between rounds, Reed’s corner suggested she was down. The pair opened the second trading kicks, with Reed making an effort to move forward more and not accept positions. Reed also got her right hand going, while landing kicks to the inside leg, body, and up high, though the latter was blocked.

Frey, as if on cue, changed levels and shot in for a single-leg takedown, eventually turning the corner and completing it. Reed controlled one wrist from bottom, but Frey eventually settled into guard. Reed, as she had done in the first, stayed busy off her back, eventually trapping Frey’s head. But she could not catch Frey in a submission, resulting in Frey spending the bulk of the time remaining on top until a late arm-bar attempt resulted in the pair scrambling back up.

Round three saw an early clinch, with Reed firing a knee off the break. Reed pressed forward, looking to get her hands going. When she closed the distance, Reed ripped the body, and perhaps more importantly, avoided the takedown. The more time the round played out on the feet, the more it favored Reed. She fired a combo just before the final minute that saw multiple strikes hit their mark. Without question, the third round was the best frame of the fight for Elise Reed. The question was, would the judges give her one of the other rounds? Turns out, they did, with Reed coming away with the decision win.

Official Result: Elise Reed def. Jinh Yu Frey by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Polyana Viana was only 3-4 in the Octagon heading into UFC Vegas 64, but all three wins were finishes that came in the very first round. After a unanimous decision loss to Tabatha Ricci that Viana found to be less than satisfying snapped a two-fight first-round submission streak, Viana looked to get back on track against talented former Invicta FC champion Jinh Yu Frey.

Frey has had her ups and downs since joining the UFC. She lost in her first two appearances with the promotion then defeated both Gloria De Paula and Ashley Yoder in succession. A close split decision loss against Vanessa Demopoulos sent her back to the losing column.

Viana was not messing around when the bell rang. Immediately, she pushed the pace against Frey. Frey ate a hard knee to the body that stunned her and Viana took full advantage. A clean left hand rocked Frey and Viana followed up with a right that sent Frey stumbling. A lengthy combination finished the fight as the referee stepped in before Frey hit the ground. A stoppage in less than a minute was exactly what Viana was seeking after a decision loss.

THAT COMBO BY VIANA 👊 #UFCVEGAS64 pic.twitter.com/cSsB8rs9Sz

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 5, 2022

Polyana Viana def. Jinh Yu Frey by TKO (Punches) in Round 1 (0:47)

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The strawweight scrap saw Vanessa Demopoulos, a former LFA champ at 115 pounds, throw down with ex-Invicta FC atomweight champ Jinh Yu Frey.

Aside from the champ versus champ storyline, Demopoulos entered the fight with a few extra eyeballs on her, after jumping into the arms of Joe Rogan following a win at UFC 270 back in January.

Despite Frey having fought at 105, she had a considerable reach advantage against Demopoulos. That allowed her to work her jab and keep Vanessa on the outside early. Demopoulos fired her right hand a couple of times, before finally landing a looping shot to the side of the head. Frey answered back with a combination, then caught a Demopoulos kick and briefly dumped her.

With just over a minute left in the opening frame, Demopoulos drove into a double-leg takedown, landing it. Frey wouldn’t be kept down for a long; the pair clinched up by the fence, with Demopoulos landing a knee or two before they moved back to center.

In round two, Frey doubled up on her jab, and at one point tripled up on it. Demopoulos worked hers as well, with less success. She changed things up, firing a high kick that Frey blocked. Demopoulos, at times, seemed to be hunting for a knockout, but her nose was bloodied, and eventually, she dropped levels for a takedown. Later in the round, Demopoulos attacked with a step-in elbow; Frey countered that, and easily stuffed the next takedown attempt. Demopoulos would tie things up, landing several knees before the break, with just seconds left in the round.

Through 10 minutes, the story was Frey’s volume and jab versus the power of Demopoulos. Between rounds, Frey informed her corner that she was suffering from double vision; that was cause for concern.

Round three opened with a heated exchange, before Demopoulos drove Frey into the fence. There, she fired knees to the thigh before dropping to a single leg attempt about 90 seconds in. Frey defended with a whizzer and attacked with elbows. Eventually, she freed herself, and back at center, fired a kick, then a 1-2.

3rd round here we come 🍿 #UFCVegas57 pic.twitter.com/cO05Uqhl6w

— UFC (@ufc) June 25, 2022

How much did Demopoulos have left in the tank? How badly compromised was Frey? Demopoulos continued to hunt for the knockout blow, before shooting in wild for a single-leg. Despite barely catching an ankle she stayed on it, getting Frey to the fence in what had become a high crotch single. Demopoulos had to bail on that, but was still in the driver’s seat. With a minute to go, she tried to get a couple of knees up, attacking the thighs as well. They’d return to center for the last 10 seconds, both ladies landing.

In the battle of LFA vs. Invicta champs, it was Demopoulos coming out on top. A split decision in the end, and Demopoulos jumped into Michael Bisping’s arms post-fight.

Official Result: Vanessa Demopoulos def. Jinh Yu Frey by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

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One of the UFC’s latest breakout stars has her next fight set.  UFC strawweight Vanessa Demopoulos will face Jinh Yu Frey at the June 25 Fight Night.  Cageside Press confirmed the booking Saturday with a source familiar with the situation.  Eurosport Nederland was first to report the news.

Find someone who looks at you like @Monster_Demo looks at @JoeRogan 😂 #UFC270 pic.twitter.com/fnS0S8Ll5x

— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022

Demopoulos (7-4) will look to follow-up her breakthrough performance in January where she rallied back to submit Silvana Gomez and have a viral post-fight interview in which she leapt into the arms of Joe Rogan.  A former LFA champion, “Lil Monster” will be making her third UFC appearance after previously making her promotional debut on short notice at flyweight last year.

Frey (11-6) enters the fight on a two fight win-streak and will be competing for the first time in 2022.  A former Invicta atomweight champion, Frey enters the bout with extensive experience that has seen her face opponents such as Seo Hee Ham, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Kay Hansen.  She enters the bout with UFC victories over Gloria de Paula and Ashley Yoder and last fought in July of 2021.

No main event or venue for the card has been announced at this time.

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UFC officials announced the news Wednesday, citing an undisclosed illness suffered by Goldy. It does not appear that a new opponent will be sought for Frey, with the promotion stating the bout was “canceled” in a brief statement on their official website.

“Due to an illness with Hannah Goldy, her strawweight bout with Jinh Yu Frey has been canceled from this weekend’s event,” the statement read.

Frey (11-6), a former Invicta FC atomweight champ, last fought in July, picking up her second straight win inside the octagon care of a unanimous decision win over Ashley Yoder. The win improved the 36-year old’s record with the promotion to 2-2.

The Korean-American won the Invicta FC 105lb title in 2018, defending the belt once before being stripped the following year when she missed weight for a fight with Ashley Cummins. After defeating Cummins, Frey made the jump to strawweight, and to the UFC.

Goldy (6-2), who dropped her first two fights in the organization after winning on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, finally picked up her first UFC victory last time out. That saw her submit Emily Whitmire with an arm-bar this past September.

UFC Vegas 49 (UFC Fight Night 202) is set to take place at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 26, 2022. A lightweight bout between Islam Makhachev and Bobby Green headlines. The card now consists of the following eleven bouts:

• Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green
• Misha Cirkunov vs. Wellington Turman
• Ji Yeon Kim vs. Priscila Cachoeira
• Arman Tsarukyan vs. Joel Álvarez
• Armen Petrosyan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
• Zhu Rong vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
• Josiane Nunes vs. Ramona Pascual
• Terrance McKinney vs. Farès Ziam
• Alejandro Pérez vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Micheal Gillmore
• Victor Altamirano vs. Carlos Hernández

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Now riding a modest win streak in the 115lb division, it feels like a weight has been lifted from Frey’s shoulders.

“I was in a pretty dark place. I’d never lost two in a row in my career, and obviously never on such a large stage,” Frey told Cageside Press following the her unanimous decision victory against Ashley Yoder. “So it took a while, I just really had to dig deep and figure out what it was I wanted to do.”

Asked if she had doubted herself during that dark period of her career, Frey replied saying “absolutely, but at the end of the day, I decided that that wasn’t going to be how my story ended.”

It certainly hasn’t ended yet. With back-to-back wins over Gloria de Paula (who was also in action Saturday) and Yoder, Frey has set herself up for a bigger fight moving forward.

There was plenty to like about Frey’s performance, particularly in the stand-up department. Though Frey herself would find room for improvement.

“I felt like I did pretty good. My coach said I did pretty good,” said Frey, who admitted there were a few things her coaches really wanted to see more of in the fight. “They really wanted me to open up with my hands, but I was a little bit hesitant, just because I knew she was going to shoot, and I didn’t want to get stuck in a long combination, and her shoot underneath.”

“I felt like I could have let my hands go a little more,” she added. On at least one occasion, Frey appeared to have her opponent hurt, but she opted not to pursue the finish guns blazing.

“I didn’t want to rush in there like crazy, with my hands down, my chin up, and then get caught,” she stated, “because all it takes is one punch to change the momentum of the fight.”

Frey herself was hurt at least once by a Yoder punch. “Maybe like two or three, it feels like.” Frey admitted to being a little stunned after the first punch landed, then told herself in a bit of an inner monologue that she needed to move.

“There’s some things I want to tweak. I really felt like I could get a finish in this fight. I’m a little let down that I didn’t get a finish, but a win’s a win,” Frey said of her performance. “I’ll take it.”

As a former atomweight, Frey was asked about bringing the division into the UFC. Dana White has publicly stated he’s open to the idea of a women’s 105lb weight class in the UFC. Frey, however, has moved on it seems.

“I think there’s a lot of great 105’ers out there,” she said, before adding “at this point, I think I’m getting a little bit too big to even make 105, so it’s kind of beyond my realm of care.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 33 post-fight press scrum with Jinh Yu Frey above.

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Yoder took the fight to her comfort zone early, backing Frey against the fence. Frey would not stay there long, however, and got her hands going back at center. The pair traded low kicks; Frey later caught a kick to the body and dumped Yoder on her back. Yoder, however, was almost immediately back up. With two minutes remaining, Yoder closed the distance and drove Frey into the fence. Yoder’s height and reach also gave her an edge in the striking.

Early in the second, Frey hurt Yoder with a punch. Yoder answered back, but it was Frey turning it up, and taking over on the feet. Yoder looked to change levels, but couldn’t secure a takedown. Yoder was showing damage to the eye, and Frey seemed to have found her timing, hitting home with her jab and low kicks — but with a minute remaining, a Yoder counter rocked Frey. A jab/cross landed for Yoder; Frey pushed back but was showing damage from that assault.

The scorecards after two rounds were likely to lean one of two ways: either 20-18 Frey, or 19-19. Either way, Ashley Yoder needed a big round in the third. Possibly a finish. The pair traded at distance throughout the first half of the round, Frey leading the dance more often than not. Time soon became a factor for Yoder, as by the 90 second mark, she was behind on the feet, and had yet to land a takedown despite multiple attempts. It was Frey, meanwhile, landing flush late in the round, with Yoder retreating. They traded to the buzzer

Official Result: Jinh Yu Frey def. Ashley Yoder by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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At UFC Vegas 21, Frey, who had dropped her first two bouts inside the octagon last year, was paired up with Gloria de Paula. The Brazilian known as “Glorinha” had won her way into the promotion on the Contender Series last year, and was making her promotional debut.

After an early Muay Thai clinch, Frey wisely took the fight down early, going to work in d e Paula’s guard. And that’s where the entire round would play out. As comfortable as de Paula looking walked out to the octagon Saturday, grooving to her music, she appeared lost on her back once Frey put her on the ground. While Frey never really came close to finishing, likely negating a 10-8, it was a dominant frame from Frey.

Round two afforded Gloria de Paula to show off some of her stand-up skills. Leg kicks and combinations flowed early, and while Frey answered back, her road to victory was on the ground. de Paula flashed a right kick to the body, and found a home for her right hand. Frey was unable to capitalize off a slip by de Paula following a kick, and suddenly, half a round had ticked away, with de Paula looking much more comfortable. As much as the first round had been Frey’s the second was de Paula’s. In the dying seconds, she fended off a takedown attempt due to a caught kick.

All the marbles were on the line in round three, and it was Jinh Yu Frey scoring first with a key takedown. de Paula was a little more active off her back, and attempted to secure a kimura from bottom. Instead of sweeping with the hold, however, de Paula was stuck in place as Frey locked her hands together. By de Paula dropped the submission, Frey was able to mount, then take the back. Frey slipped in a rear-naked choke, but was too high on the back.

Official Result: Jinh Yu Frey def. Gloria de Paul by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Thailand’s Loma Lookboonmee and former Invicta FC atomweight champion Jinh Yu Frey were paired up Saturday at UFC Fight Island 4. The preliminary card strawweight affair was a quirky little bit of matchmaking. Frey, at 35, had simply outgrown the atomweight division, leading to her move to 115lbs in her strawweight debut earlier this year.

Lookboonmee, meanwhile, was a decorated Muay Thai fighter who had split her first two UFC bouts. Loma was a former atomweight as well, perhaps evening the playing field.

Frey was the noticeably bigger fighter in the cage and Loma tried to offset that early by throwing a variety of low kicks and kicks to the body. Frey quickly got into the clinch and tried to get the fight to the mat. However, Loma threw her off and landed a big elbow on the break. Loma landed a hard left hand and then landed a hard chopping elbow that seemed to stun Frey. Loma landed some devastating elbows in the clinch before Frey separated, and then Loma began dominating from the distance. Frey shot in for a takedown but was stuffed, and Loma began landing some more devastating elbows and knees. An absolutely dominant first round for Loma Lookboonmee.

Clinch clinic by @LomaLookboonmee 🇹🇭

📺 #UFCFightIsland4 live on E+ pic.twitter.com/cSOnRcbaXf

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

The two got into the clinch early again in the second round, and Loma began landing knees to the midsection of Frey. Loma opened up the elbows with the knees and landed some brutal elbows before breaking away from the clinch after a hard left by Frey. Frey tried to drive in with a right hand, but Loma stepped into the clinch with a series of hard knees before quickly backtracking. Frey began to look shell-shocked. She was walking forward but was hesitant to actually throw any shots because she was being countered, or just absolutely dominated in the clinch. Heading into round three, Frey was down badly.

Frey got a huge takedown in the opening seconds of round three. Frey passed to side control quickly, but Loma was able to get back to her feet and Frey got her back. However, Loma shook her off, and Frey was right back where she started. After the brief scare, Loma went right back to work, landing hard shots to the legs and body of Frey. Frey’s corner kept screaming at her to go, but she couldn’t get the takedown. Loma engaged the clinch and landed a knee, and Frey had a great level change but couldn’t get the takedown. That was Frey’s last potential chance at victory, as she would go onto to lose via decision after the fight met the scorecards.

Loma Lookboonmee def. Jinh Yu Frey by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

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