Roxanne Modafferi vs. Viviane Araujo set for January 2021 UFC event

An important women’s flyweight bout between Roxanne Modafferi and Viviane Araujo is being targeted to take place in early 2021.

Eric Kowal of MyMMANews.com was the first to break the news of the Modafferi vs. Araujo matchup, noting that it is targeted to take place at a UFC event on January 30, 2021. No other details for that upcoming event have been revealed thus far.

BREAKING: Sources have confirmed to @MyMMANews that the #UFC is targeting a January 30, 2021 fight between Roxanne Modafferi @Roxyfighter and Viviane Araujo @ViviAraujoMMA

— MyMMANews (@MyMMANews) October 10, 2020

BREAKING: Sources have confirmed to @MyMMANews that the #UFC is targeting a January 30, 2021 fight between Roxanne Modafferi @Roxyfighter and Viviane Araujo @ViviAraujoMMA

Modafferi (25-17) is the No. 7 ranked women’s flyweight in the UFC. The 38-year-old American is in her second stint in the UFC. In her first stint in the promotion back in 2013, Modafferi was one-and-done with the UFC after losing a unanimous decision to Raquel Pennington. After spending time in Invicta FC, Modafferi returned to the UFC in 2017. Since then, “The Happy Warrior” has gone 4-4 in the UFC. In her last fight, she defeated Andrea Lee via unanimous decision. She also has a notable win over Maycee Barber.

Araujo (9-2) is the No. 8 ranked women’s flyweight in the UFC. The 33-year-old Brazilian made her UFC debut in 2019 and has since racked up a 3-1 record in the Octagon with wins over Montana De La Rosa, Alexis Davis, and Talita Bernardo, with a loss to Jessica Eye. She has won six of her last seven fights overall as she looks to continue her rise up the UFC women’s 125lbs ladder.

Since Modafferi is ranked No. 7 and Araujo is ranked No. 8 this is sensible matchmaking from the UFC. Both women are a bit behind the other top contenders at 125lbs, but as we saw with Jennifer Maia in her last fight against Joanne Calderwood, all it takes is one really impressive win to get to the title shot against UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Who do you think wins, Roxanne Modafferi or Viviane Araujo?