UFC Vegas 32 Prelim Breakout Star: Diana Belbita

The Prelim Breakout Star is a once-per-event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented fighter on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.

Diana Belbita

Nickname – The Warrior Princess
Affiliation – House of Champions MMA
From – Strehaia, Romania
Height – 5’7″
Weight – 1155 lbs (Strawweight)
Record – 13-6 (0-2 UFC)

What makes her impressive

At 0-2 in the UFC, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that there is still a lot of growth that needs to come from Belbita’s overall game. She has areas that could really use some polishing – particularly her submission defense from a number of places. However, there are some parts to her game that are already very good. The one that sticks out the most clearly is her body lock clinch game. She works well against the cage both digging for those underhooks and holding/changing positions. As seen in her fight with Liana Jojua, she has good takedowns with the position as well. As she irons out other aspects of her game, it’ll be easier for her to get to her bread and butter and then capitalize on it.

Why she has been overlooked

The aforementioned two losses to kick of her career is the easiest answer here. It’s hard to drop your first two fights and have people dying to see you in there a third time. In addition, she lost her last fight nearly a year before this one was booked – meaning a lot of people don’t remember that fight at all. For this reason, it’s pretty easy to see why she might come in at a +155 underdog (Odds by FanDuel) to another fighter without a win. In addition, having a large portion of her regional work in RXF in Romania makes it hard to build a fan base in the US or Canada.

What makes this a good match-up

Hannah Goldy is perhaps one of the physically strong fighters in the women’s weight classes. She’s very short and packs a lot of muscle on to her smaller frame. However, as we saw in her debut, her technique in the clinch doesn’t always give her the most bang for her buck. Miranda Granger, who was notably lankier than her and took the fight on short notice, out positioned her and peppered her with strikes as well. That doesn’t bode well for Goldy against Belbita, who isn’t just good in the clinch, but is now making the move down to strawweight where her strength should play up. Expect Belbita to control this fight and where it takes place en route to a unanimous decision.

Prelim Breakout Star Record: 220-107-1 (2 NC) (13 DNF)

Shop all things UFC at Amazon!

(The MMA Manifesto is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com)