Meet Russian UFC fighter Victoria Dudakova! (PHOTOS)

Victoria is currently the only Russian fighter in the UFC women’s Strawweight division. The European MMA champion (2019) and World bronze medalist (2019) is only 24 years of age, and already boasts a hugely impressive 8-0-0 record! 

Victoria was born in Volgograd (around 1,000 km south of Moscow) and has been in sports since childhood. Having started with gymnastics, she later turned to swimming – and was very successful at it. 

At 13, Victoria was accepted into the Russian national team and quickly became a champion among juniors. However, soon after she  started working with a new coach, her results started to suffer,  and she quit the sport. Her mother proposed a move to martial arts. Victoria decided to give it a chance, and the new hobby soon became a vocation. Which is fitting, since her father used to be a kickboxer, and the two used to watch the fights on TV together.

Victoria later admitted that she has always been fascinated by the sport of fighting, and especially liked watching Ronda Rousey’s rise to MMA stardom: one of Ronda’s signature techniques – the armbar – is Victoria’s favorite as well.

On October 21, 2023, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at UFC 294, Victoria beat American Jinh Yu Frey (while Islam Makhachev – another Russian – successfully defended his Lightweight belt against Australian Alexander Volkanovski with a 1st round knockout). 

At the moment Victoria is not planning on returning to the ring till 2024 – she admitted to being very tired, and plans to focus on her health, both mental and physical.