Unbeaten Russian lands UFC deal

Viktoria Dudakova has become the latest Russian to join the UFC ranks after her hard-fought victory over Brazilian favorite Maria Silva at the Dana White’s Contender Series 52 event in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

Dudakova, 23, headed into the bout at the UFC Apex facility unbeaten in five bouts but faced a step up in class against the 26-year-old Silva, who was unbeaten in eight contests and heavily fancied by the oddsmakers.

Making Dudakova’s task tougher, she was forced to fight through a knee injury in the latter stages which required checks from the cageside doctor before being cleared to continue for the third round.

But the Russian still produced the better work during the fight, particularly on the ground, and was rewarded with a unanimous decision – 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – on the scorecards.

UFC boss Dana White was on hand to confirm that the Volgograd-born Dudakova was one of five winners on the night who would all be handed deals with the promotion.   

“I didn’t love this fight, but she showed me everything that I needed to see,” White said of his new Russian signing.  

“She was a two-and-half to one underdog, she is unbelievably mentally tough, unbelievably physically tough, emotionally, and she dominated the bigger, stronger woman tonight with more experience – and did it while she was injured.

“Apparently she came in injured, but she was definitely injured after the second round, and she made it look like she wasn’t [injured].

“She’s only 23 years old, she’s got everything you need to be a world champion, in my opinion, I’m excited to see what she does next,” White added.

Dudakova has previously fought in the Open Fighting Championship, AMC Fight Nights, Fight Nights Global and Gorilla Fighting Championship – all of which took place in her homeland, with the exception of one bout in Belarus.  

After being offered her UFC deal, Dudakova said through a translator that she was delighted to be joining the roster of the elite MMA championship, setting her rivals in the 115lbs ranks on notice.  

“I’ll bring wrestling, I’ll bring young blood. I didn’t even show 50% of what I’m capable of tonight. When I recover fully, I’ll shake up this division, you’ll see,” Dudakova vowed.