Athletes
Ariane Lipski Looks To Impose Her Game
UFC Flyweight Ariane Lipski Has Her Sights On A Dominant Performance At UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov
Ariane Lipski will be the first person to tell you that her UFC career has been anything but smooth sailing thus far.
The 29-year-old flyweight has struggled to catch her rhythm in the Octagon, going 4-5 overall, and believes she’s yet to blossom into the fighter that she knows she can be.
After suffering a knockout loss in her only bout of 2022, Lipski took some time away to process the defeat.
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“It wasn’t easy to come back after that result,” Lipski said. “But once I managed to get back, I felt much stronger mentally. I worked really hard and focused a lot on my training and on having a great performance.”
Earlier this year, she returned to the Octagon and showed glimpses of that fighter when she beat JJ Aldrich.
Lipski was crisp, aggressive, and effective from bell to bell versus Aldrich. She utilized a variety of striking techniques to punish Aldrich for attempting to get the fight to the canvas. Even though she was unable to finish Aldrich on way to a unanimous decision win, it was her most complete performance in the Octagon to date.
This weekend, Lipski aims to build on that victory when she faces fellow Brazilian Melissa Gatto at UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov.
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“I’m looking to show how much I’ve evolved,” she said. “My focus as an athlete is to show the improvements I’ve made everywhere: mentally, technically, physically, on the feet, and on the ground.
“I want to perform and to look for the win from start to finish.”
Putting together a dominant win against Gatto this weekend would certainly be impressive, considering Gatto’s only career loss has come at the hands of ranked flyweight Tracy Cortez.
Lipski knows that beating Gatto is going to be a challenge, as she’s expecting her to bring high-quality jiu jitsu to their showdown. She is confident that she has prepared for everything that Gatto brings to the table and that she’s ready to deliver in the UFC APEX.
“I have to go there and impose my game,” Lipski said. “You can definitely expect a great fight with two fighters that move forward.”
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One of Lipski’s motivators ahead of this fight was training alongside former UFC bantamweight and UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes. The two trained at American Top Team and at the Lioness Studio as Nunes prepared for her final bout at UFC 289 and Lipski trained for her bout with Gatto.
Spending time in the same fight cycle as Nunes inspired Lipski and gave her a daily reminder of how to become great.
“She was always there to assist me and always trying to help,” Lipski said. “Whenever I was on the mat she’d help me with some details. We wrestled together, but it was just amazing to be there and to see her training. That was very important.”
Watching Nunes close the final chapter of her storybook career was something that Lipski will never forget, and the fact that she was able to be there for the ride gives her even more motivation to be her absolute best against Gatto.
“I’ll give it my all to get this win,” Lipski said.
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 1, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
