Ariane Lipski eyes PFL title after turbulent UFC run
Ariane Lipski believes her championship window is just opening at 32, three months removed from her UFC release and one fight into a Professional Fighters League contract that she hopes ends with a flyweight title.
The Brazilian's Octagon tenure was defined less by her 6-8 record than by the chaos surrounding it. Over seven years, nine of her scheduled bouts were canceled or postponed due to opponent injuries, illnesses, failed drug tests, and travel restrictions, per Sherdog.com. Lipski herself pulled out twice. The pattern began before she ever debuted — a reported foot injury to Maryna Moroz in 2018 delayed her arrival until the following year.
Lipski credits lessons learned for PFL turnaround
"To a certain extent, the opponent changes always had an effect. But I wouldn't blame my losses on that," Lipski told Sherdog.com. "For some bouts, I wasn't physically well. I still accepted those challenges, believing I could still win. At other times, I wasn't mentally well. And I still believed I'd get the win. And there were times where everything, physical and mental, felt perfect but once I was in the fight, my body wasn't reacting correctly."
Lipski won her PFL debut against Sumiko Inaba in March and faces grappling specialist Jena Bishop on Saturday. She trains at American Top Team in Florida under head coach Renato Silva, her husband, with jiu-jitsu work handled by Vagner Rocha and wrestling by Desmond Moore. The camp format centers on simulating opponents rather than generic sparring.
PFL has not yet crowned a women's flyweight champion. Lipski, a former KSW titleholder who defended twice before signing with the UFC in 2018, said a strong performance against Bishop should position her for a title shot.
Photo: mmarocks / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Original reporting:
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