7 hours Ago
Diana Belbita, a 28-year-old Romanian fighter with a 15-9 overall record. She was the top trending fighter early Friday evening after successfully weighing in for her fight on Saturday against Dione Barbosa. Belbita will battle Barbosa on the early prelims, and per Tapology , the former is a massive underdog at plus-700.
The biggest underdogs on the card will often draw tons of search traffic because bettors are checking to see if there is potential for a huge win. Belbita is in a tough spot. She’s currently on a two-fight losing streak, and she’s already lost twice to Molly McCann, a fighter who recently hung up the gloves following a submission loss at UFC London.
A third consecutive loss for Belbita would make her a prime candidate for separation from the UFC. Belbita’s predicament gets even tougher when you consider her opponent. Barbosa is also hungry.
While she lost her last fight, a unanimous decision to Miranda Maverick in July 2024, Barbosa had won four straight before that setback, and an injury kept her out of the Octagon. Barbosa is expected to win because she is the massively superior grappler, and Belbita has struggled with submission defense throughout her career. McCann, who has also struggled with her submission defense, defeated Belbita via armbar in the latter’s last fight.
Pitted against someone like Barbosa, this fight has all the makings of a first-round submission win for the Brazilian. If you’re looking for a potential route to an upset for Belbita, it’s tough to find one. She’s only won one fight in her career via strikes, and the last time that happened was in 2018—well before she made it to the UFC.
Perhaps she’ll pull a rabbit out of her hat on Saturday, but it’s not something I’d bet on. Here is a look at the updated fight card with weigh-in results. Here are all of the official weights for Saturday’s event which begins at 6 pm ET on ESPN Plus, per UFC.
com . Main Event - Featherweight Bout: Josh Emmett (146) vs Lerone Murphy (145.5) Co-Main Event - Featherweight Bout: Pat Sabatini (145.
5) vs Joanderson Brito (146) Bantamweight Bout: Cortavious Romious (139.5)* vs ChangHo Lee (136) Middleweight Bout: Brad Tavares (185.5) vs Gerald Meerschaert (185) Flyweight Bout: Ode’ Osbourne (125.
5) vs Luis Gurule (125) Middleweight Bout: Torrez Finney (186) vs Robert Valentin (185.5) Women’s Flyweight Bout: Diana Belbita (125.5) vs Dione Barbosa (126) Welterweight Bout: Rhys McKee (171) vs Daniel Frunza (170.
5) Women’s Strawweight Bout: Loma Lookboonmee (115) vs Istela Nunes (115) Bantamweight Bout: Victor Henry (135.5) vs Pedro Falcao (136) Heavyweight Bout: Martin Buday (266) vs Uran Satybaldiev (222.5) Strawweight Bout: Vanessa Demopoulos (116) vs Talita Alencar (115) * Cortavious Romious weighed in above the bantamweight limit of 136 pounds.
He forfeits 20% of his purse to his opponent. **The bantamweight bout between Davey Grant and Daniel Santos has been cancelled. Be on the lookout for post-event coverage on Saturday night with results, bonus winners and fallout .
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