Following a very successful run in the amateur ranks, strawweight up and comer Vanessa Demopoulos made her pro debut last December with a first-round submission victory over Emme Weber at IT Fight Series 79.
As Demopoulos puts it, everything she had done up until that point necessitated a move to the pro ranks at that time.
“Going pro was something that I had my heart set on for a very long time,” Demopoulos told MMAWeekly.com. “After I had my amateur bouts with Tuff-N-Uff and winning the 115-pound title for them, so it was just time. There wasn’t really much more for me to do as an amateur.”
For Demopoulos, the dedication at the pro level is what she feels separates it the most from what she was seeing in the amateur ranks.
“It’s been really refreshing seeing the level at which some of the pros conduct themselves,” said Demopoulos. “There has been quite the jump going from amateurs to pros. It’s refreshing.
“Being a pro has really changed the way I look at fighting. Where as an amateur I didn’t focus as much; I was doing everything constantly, but I was more focused on my Jiu-Jitsu career throughout my amateur MMA career, where as a professional I’m getting to do what I love to do, which is MMA.”
After spending much of the year waiting for a fight, Demopoulos (1-0) will finally get in her first bout of 2018 when she faces Itzel Esquivel (3-2) in a main card strawweight bout this Friday at LFA 52 in Belton, Texas.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
