Vanessa Demopoulos Credits BJJ Expertise To Her Time As A Pole Dancer

Vanessa DemopoulosRallying from a massive knockdown against Silvana Gomez Juarez on the preliminary card of UFC 270 last weekend, Ohio grappling expert, Vanessa Demopoulos, scored an impressive first round armbar win. And has credited her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ability to her time as a stripper and exotic dancer. Demopoulos, who improved to 7-4 as a professional mixed […]

Vanessa Demopoulos

Rallying from a massive knockdown against Silvana Gomez Juarez on the preliminary card of UFC 270 last weekend, Ohio grappling expert, Vanessa Demopoulos, scored an impressive first round armbar win. And has credited her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ability to her time as a stripper and exotic dancer.

Demopoulos, who improved to 7-4 as a professional mixed martial artist at UFC 270, is a former LFA strawweight champion, and secured her first UFC victory on Saturday with her rallying performance against Gomez Juarez. 

Finding herself on the receiving end of a massive, clubbing overhand right, Demopoulos suffered a heavy knockdown, before recovering guard.

Attempting to setup a submission off of her back, Demopoulos then swept Gomez Juarez eventually, before forcing a timely tap courtesy of an armbar.

Vanessa Demopoulos scored her seventh professional win at UFC 270 on Saturday

A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt under Giva Santana, Demopoulos, who earned her UFC call last year, revealed she handed in her resignation notice in the weeks leading up to her fight, quitting her profession as a stripper and exotic dancer in a bid to pursue a professional mixed martial arts career on a full-time basis.

“I don’t think it’s a secret – I was an exotic entertainer for 13 years and I didn’t actually say it on the mic, but I’d like to say it right now: I walked away from being a stripper to continue this camp,” Vanessa Demopoulos told assembled media post-fight during the UFC 270 press conference. “I quit dancing about six to eight weeks ago just so I could focus full-time on MMA, take this extremely seriously in the gym every single day.” 

Attributing her grappling ability to her time as a pole dancer, Demopoulos lodged her fourth submission win against Gomez Juarez at UFC 270. 

“A lot of my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu actually comes from my expertise as a pole dancer,” Vanessa Demopoulos said. 

Following her victory over Gomez Juarez, an ecstatic, Demopoulos completed her post-fight Octagon interview by leaping into the arms of long time color-commentator, Joe Rogan, resulting in a viral moment across social media.