Following a victory in her promotional debut, 24 year old phenom, Victoria Dudakova looks to go 2-0 at UFC 294. With that being said, her debut went far from how she had planned it out.
Having won a contract on the contender series, Dudakova debuted at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva. Taking on Istela Nunes, the Brazilian suffered an elbow injury just 28 seconds into the fight, leading to a premature ending to the fight and not allowing Dudakova to showcase any of her skills.
The way the fight ended certainly didn’t finish in the manner that she would have wanted. Unfortunately for the undefeated strawweight, she was coming off the back of an injury and would have definitely wanted more cage time on her return. Having competed for 38 seconds since August 2022, she’ll be looking to hit the ground running at UFC 294.
UFC 294 Match-Up
As the only women’s fight on this year’s ‘Fight Island’ card from Abu Dhabi, Victoria Dudakova will clash with Jinh Yu Frey. “You can call me mystic mac, cause I predict these tings”. That’s right, before she was even officially matched in the UFC, MMASucka suggested Frey as an opponent for Dudakova and now, eight months later, this bout comes to fruition.
Frey is 14 years the senior of Dudakova and far more experienced with 20 career fights to Dudakova’s seven. With that being said, the American has lost almost as many as she’s won with a record of 11-9, whereas the Russian is undefeated. It’s also questionable as to whether Frey is truly a UFC calibre fighter. She’s 2-5 in her career thus far, having lost her last three on the bounce.
The former two-time Invicta FC atomweight champion has never really found her best form inside the UFC octagon and could, with a loss here be staring down the barrel of a fourth straight loss and UFC exit.
This is what makes the UFC 294 bout so intriguing. Frey is essentially fighting for her UFC career and Dudakova wants to show what she’s truly made of. A great piece of matchmaking.
