Diana Belbita
The Warrior Princess
Romania
Dominated as massive underdog
Belbita lost to Dione Barbosa via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:13 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Belbita has a lot of interests outside of the cage and has talked about retirement multiple times in the past. All that adds up to entering as a +700 underdog, largest on the entire card, and a first-round submission defeat. Diana did fine on the feet in the early moments, but Barbosa eventually secured an easy takedown and applied the fight-ending choke without resistance. Barbosa is still just 28 years old, but she's lost three straight dating back to October 2023 and is just 1-4 in her past five fights. It's overwhelmingly likely her time with the UFC has come to an end.
Belbita has a lot of interests outside of the cage and has talked about retirement multiple times in the past. All that adds up to entering as a +700 underdog, largest on the entire card, and a first-round submission defeat. Diana did fine on the feet in the early moments, but Barbosa eventually secured an easy takedown and applied the fight-ending choke without resistance. Barbosa is still just 28 years old, but she's lost three straight dating back to October 2023 and is just 1-4 in her past five fights. It's overwhelmingly likely her time with the UFC has come to an end.
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Set to face Barbosa
Belbita will take on Dione Barbosa in a flyweight bout at UFC Vegas 105 on April 5th, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Belbita is in desperate need of a win. She's coming off two straight losses - most recently falling to Molly McCann back in February of 2024 - and holds a 2-5 record in the UFC. Her opponent Barbosa, meanwhile, is newer to the promotion with a 1-1 record but is also coming off a loss. Both fighters will be looking to bounce back.
Belbita is in desperate need of a win. She's coming off two straight losses - most recently falling to Molly McCann back in February of 2024 - and holds a 2-5 record in the UFC. Her opponent Barbosa, meanwhile, is newer to the promotion with a 1-1 record but is also coming off a loss. Both fighters will be looking to bounce back.
Struggles continue in Vegas
Belbita lost to Molly McCann via submission (armbar) at 4:59 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Belbita looked awful, and it was a highly disappointing effort on the heels of a reasonably strong performance in a loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz last October. Facing an opponent in McCann that is clearly beatable, Belbita offered nothing in the stand-up and displayed zero ring IQ in immediately tapping to an armbar with exactly a second to go in the opening round. Diana is still just 27 years of age, but now sporting back-to-back defeats and a loser of three of her last four, her roster spot is clearly in jeopardy.
Belbita looked awful, and it was a highly disappointing effort on the heels of a reasonably strong performance in a loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz last October. Facing an opponent in McCann that is clearly beatable, Belbita offered nothing in the stand-up and displayed zero ring IQ in immediately tapping to an armbar with exactly a second to go in the opening round. Diana is still just 27 years of age, but now sporting back-to-back defeats and a loser of three of her last four, her roster spot is clearly in jeopardy.
McCann rematch scheduled
Belbita will compete against Molly McCann in a strawweight fight at UFC Vegas 85 on Feb. 3, according to Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Belbita and McCann fought each other at flyweight during the preliminary card of UFC on ESPN 6 back in 2019. McCann won via unanimous decision then. Thus, Belbita will look to redeem herself and welcome McCann to the strawweight division by pulling off a redemptive win.
Belbita and McCann fought each other at flyweight during the preliminary card of UFC on ESPN 6 back in 2019. McCann won via unanimous decision then. Thus, Belbita will look to redeem herself and welcome McCann to the strawweight division by pulling off a redemptive win.
Drops decision in Vegas
Belbita lost to Karolina Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
As expected, Belbita found life much more difficult against Kowalkiewicz compared to her unanimous decision win over Maria Oliviera this past June. That said, Diana was by no means dominated. She certainly had her moments on the feet and did an excellent job of battling Karolina in tight, stuffing 5-of-6 takedown attempts. Ultimately, however, Kowalkiewicz was able to pull away in the second half of the fight. Although just 27 years of age, Belbita's 2-4 mark in her first half dozen UFC bouts is uninspiring. The upside here is minimal.
As expected, Belbita found life much more difficult against Kowalkiewicz compared to her unanimous decision win over Maria Oliviera this past June. That said, Diana was by no means dominated. She certainly had her moments on the feet and did an excellent job of battling Karolina in tight, stuffing 5-of-6 takedown attempts. Ultimately, however, Kowalkiewicz was able to pull away in the second half of the fight. Although just 27 years of age, Belbita's 2-4 mark in her first half dozen UFC bouts is uninspiring. The upside here is minimal.
Veteran next up
Belbita will compete against Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a strawweight fight at UFC Vegas 80 on Oct. 7, according to Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Next up for Belbita is a 37-year-old veteran seemingly back in form. Kowalkiewicz was 1-5 from 2018 to 2021 but has won each of her last three fights. Both she and Belbita have 15-7 MMA records, though the latter is a decade younger and with a positive record (2-1) across her last three fights as well.
Next up for Belbita is a 37-year-old veteran seemingly back in form. Kowalkiewicz was 1-5 from 2018 to 2021 but has won each of her last three fights. Both she and Belbita have 15-7 MMA records, though the latter is a decade younger and with a positive record (2-1) across her last three fights as well.