Vanessa Melo

Miss Simpatia

Brazil

Finally nabs first UFC victory
BantamweightPFL
January 16, 2021
Melo defeated Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) at UFC on ABC 1 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
ANALYSIS
It was far from pretty at times, but Melo managed to secure her first UFC victory and almost certainly save her job in the process. A loser in each of her first three bouts with the company, Melo was the more accurate, effective striker over the course of the first two rounds. Moras managed to close the gap in the final frame, but the result was no longer in doubt at that point. Full credit to Melo for coming up big as a significant (+160) underdog, just keep in mind there is an overwhelming likelihood this will go down as the high point of Melo's UFC run.
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Fight against Moras pushed back
BantamweightPFL
November 4, 2020
Melo's scheduled bantamweight matchup against Sarah Moras has been moved to the UFC event scheduled for Jan. 16, Raphael Marinho of Combate.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Melo and Moras were originally supposed to throw down this Saturday in Vegas, but the fight will ultimately get pushed back two months due to an unspecified injury on Moras' end. Melo is still searching for her first UFC win after opening up her run with the company on a 0-3 run, and had been pegged as roughly a (+160) betting underdog for this matchup. She's simply getting hit too much in the UFC, absorbing an astounding 7.20 significant strikes per minute in those three fights, allowing two of her three opponents to land 120-plus in decisions. Moras hasn't fared much better of late either, landing just 2.18 significant strikes per minute during her eight-fight tenure with the company.
November fight set
BantamweightPFL
August 13, 2020
Melo will fight Sarah Moras at the UFC event on November 7, MMAFighting.com reports.
ANALYSIS
That fight location has yet to be determined. Melo will be coming in off a loss back in July to Karoline Rosa via unanimous decision.
Loses after missing weight
BantamweightPFL
July 11, 2020
Melo lost to Karoline Rosa via unanimous decision (26-30, 26-30, 27-30) at UFC 251 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
ANALYSIS
Melo wasn't the least bit competitive after missing weight by a full five pounds on Friday. Melo was hopelessly outclassed on the feet, landing just 42 total strikes over the course of the 15-minute bout. By comparison, Rosa connected with 131 total strikes. If that's not bad enough, Melo had to forfeit 30 percent of her purse to Rosa in order for this fight to take place. Melo has fallen via unanimous decision in each of her first three UFC bouts.
Badly misses weight, will still fight
BantamweightPFL
July 10, 2020
Melo weighed in at 141 pounds Friday for her scheduled bantamweight matchup against Karoline Rosa at UFC 251 on Saturday, Aaron Bronsteter of TSN.ca reports.
ANALYSIS
This is a bad miss for Melo, as she's checking in at a full five pounds over the bantamweight limit for non-title fights. Per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com, the fight will still go on as planned, with Melo giving up 30 percent of her fight purse to Rosa. Melo had already been a pretty sizable underdog for this bout, checking in at approximately (+210) as of Friday morning.
Joins UFC 251 card
BantamweightPFL
June 11, 2020
Melo is scheduled to fight Karoline Rosa in a bantamweight match at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi on July 11, Marcel Dorff of MMADNA reports.
ANALYSIS
Melo is coming off back-to-back losses, most recently via unanimous decision against Tracy Cortez at UFC Fight Night in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Still looking for her first UFC victory, Melo will now be faced with the task of overcoming an opponent riding a three-fight win streak in the form of Rosa.