Rivalries: Ariane Lipski

Expectations can be difficult to meet—a reality with which Ariane Lipski has grown all too familiar.

The former KSW titleholder will attempt to climb back to .500 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division when she takes on Priscila Cachoeira in a featured UFC on ESPN 40 attraction this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Lipski has lost two of her past three bouts, her record inside the Octagon having slipped to a disappointing 3-4. The 28-year-old American Top Team representative last competed on Sept. 18, when she was awarded a unanimous decision over Mandy Bohm in their three-round battle at UFC Fight Night 192.

As Lipski moves ever closer to her forthcoming clash with Cachoeira at 125 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape her career to this point:

Diana Belbita

Lipski captured the vacant Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki women’s flyweight championship when she put away the Romanian with an armbar in the first round of their KSW 39 encounter on May 27, 2017 at PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland. Belbita checked out 4:52 into Round 1 before a crowd of 57,776. Lipski was first to get her hands in gear and paired punches with thudding kicks to the body. She sent a lead-leg head kick sweeping across Belbita’s face and followed up with punches and knees before executing an outside trip takedown from the clinch in the center of the cage. Lipski applied her ground-and-pound, laced it with elbows and eventually transitioned to full mount. Belbita managed to sweep into top position in a fleeting glimmer of hope but wandered into immediate danger. Lipski zeroed in on a limb, rotated her hips and caught the armbar to prompt the tapout. She went on to defend the 125-pound title on two subsequent occasions before signing with the UFC in 2019.

Joanne Wood

Wood laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision and spoiled the former KSW champion’s hotly anticipated organizational debut as part of the UFC Fight Night 143 undercard on Jan. 19, 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Scores were 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27. Lipski met with early adversity and seemed out of sorts for much of the match. Wood delivered a takedown in the first round, advanced toward the back and threatened with a rear-naked choke, arm-triangle choke and armbar. She then outstruck Lipski in Round 2 and turned back to her submission skills in the third, where she countered a takedown with another armbar attempt. The loss was Lipski’s first in nearly four years and closed the book on her career-best nine-fight winning streak.

Luana Carolina

Lipski reasserted herself as the “Queen of Violence” when she submitted her Brazilian countrywoman with a kneebar in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 172 flyweight showcase on July 18, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Carolina raised the white flag of surrender 88 seconds into Round 1. Lipski pressured the muay Thai stylist behind punches from the outset. Carolina ate a body shot as she backpedaled, slipped while she threw a kick and found herself pinned to the mat less than 30 seconds into the match. Her situation only deteriorated from there. Lipski avoided a heel hook, moved to a seated position on her counterpart’s midsection, isolated the left leg and cranked backward. Carolina let out an alarming yelp before she tapped and did not compete again for almost 10 months.

Antonina Shevchenko

The Tiger Muay Thai standout disposed of Lipski with punches in the second round of their UFC 255 women’s flyweight prelim on Nov. 21, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Shevchenko drew the curtain 4:33 into Round 2, handing the “Queen of Violence” her first stoppage loss in more than six years. She set the tone with a head-and-arm throw in the first round, where she progressed to half guard and seized control with a surprisingly effective top game. Lipski snapped back the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate’s head with a clean right hook in the middle stanza but failed to maintain a manageable distance. Shevchenko bullied her to the mat, advanced to side control and applied her ground-and-pound. She did not stop there. Shevchenko eventually moved to mount and battered the “Queen of Violence” with punches until referee Chris Tognoni had seen enough.