UFC Fight Night 172: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 - Predictions and Picks

#4 UFC Women’s Flyweight Division: Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina

Ariane Lipski has struggled somewhat thus far into her UFC tenure

Better known as ‘The Violence Queen’, Lipski brought quite the reputation with her upon her UFC arrival back in 2019. A native of Brazil who has trained with Cris Cyborg, Lipski had primarily been fighting in Poland’s KSW promotion before moving to the big time.

Since arriving though, she’s flattered to deceive. Her UFC debut saw her outworked by veteran Joanne Calderwood, while her second fight saw her fall to the scrappy Molly McCann.

Both fights followed a similar pattern: Lipski was able to land some clean strikes, but also took punishment due to her penchant for holding her chin too highly. And on the ground, she simply didn’t have an answer for a powerful top game.

Her win over Isabela de Padua saw her display some better skills on the ground, but only from the top position – and against a clearly overmatched opponent, too.

Carolina is a step up in competition from de Padua – she actually has a win over her earlier in her career. But is she as good as Calderwood or McCann? I’m not convinced. Her UFC debut win saw her out-point Priscila Cachoeira, but it wasn’t all that impressive.

The fight saw Cachoeira wade in constantly with strikes, and while she ate more than she connected with, she also had Carolina hurt on a number of occasions. Carolina did outwork her on the ground, which should be somewhat worrying for Lipski, but I suspect ‘The Violence Queen’ has such an advantage standing that it won’t matter all that much.

Overall, Lipski will need to be careful here, largely because if Carolina decides to spam takedowns and work her from the top position, there’s every chance she ends up being out-pointed. On the feet though, this looks like a tailor-made fight for Lipski and so I’m taking her to pick Carolina apart for a clear decision.

The Pick: Lipski via unanimous decision