Scouting Report: Viviane Araujo

Viviane Araujo

Born: Nov. 21, 1986 (Age: 35) in Ceilandia, Brazil
Division: Women's Flyweight
Height: 5' 5”
Reach: 68”
Record: 11-3
Association: Cerrado MMA
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Speedy, skilled fighter who neatly jumps in and out of range to strike with her opponent. She has some of the best footwork in all of WMMA, a nice 1-2, and dangerous, powerful overhand right as well as solid leg kicks. One only wishes that she wouldn't use a terrible right hook as often. She is a very solid wrestler too, able to neutralize attempts by the opponent and succeed with ones of her own. Aside from being capable at getting up, however, she isn't especially dangerous on the ground, however. One aspect that has kept the talented Aruajo from even further success is her cardio. To her credit, it's improved, being previously terrible and now merely mediocre, but it's still a concern against top fighters and in any potential five-rounders.

STRIKING

● Stance: Orthodox
● Hand Speed: Fast hands, clearly above average.
● Jab: Pretty good, being straight, hard, and technical, if slightly telegraphed at times.
● Cross: Good, with solid technique and plenty of speed and power.
● Left Hook: Strangely, almost never throws this.
● Right Hook: Awful; being reaching, very wide, telegraphed, and even very weak and airy. Wish she used this punch a lot less.
● Overhand Right: Excellent, with proper arc and rotation and plenty of power that knocked out Talita Bernardo and badly hurt Jessica Eye, among others. Wish she would use it even more.
● Uppercuts: Has an okay lead uppercut she likes to throw, thanks to the technique, but it's far too telegraphed.
● Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Definitely a volume puncher while her energy lasts.
● Favorite Combinations: The 1-2, which is solid if often a little predictable.
● Leg Kicks: Decent; they're fast, but she doesn't plant her feet properly, thus robbing them of impact.
● Body Kicks: Rarely throws them.
● Head Kicks: Practically never throws them.
● Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Araujo has some of the very best footwork in all of WMMA, and bounces in and out of range very neatly. There is a lot to like about her boxing; she has fast hands, throws punches in bunches, and has good, technical, and hard straight punches. That includes a nice jab. Her right hand also has genuine power to it, with an especially dangerous, textbook overhand right that has knocked out or badly hurt multiple opponents. She uses the 1-2 a lot, thought it gets predictable. Unfortunately, she has an absolutely terrible right hook that she insists on throwing, while almost never using a left hook, limiting some of her effectiveness. Her leg kicks are fast and certainly score points for the judges, but she doesn't plant her feet properly, thus robbing them of power. Overall though, she is one of the best strikers in the women's 125 pound division—for as long as her strength lasts.

CLINCH

● Physical Strength: Good.
● Technique: Decent, with aggressive framing to gain separation, though she has been taken down by judo throws in her pre-UFC career, sometimes by smaller and tired opponents.
● Knees: Very rarely throws them as she is seeking to gain separation.
● Elbows: Doesn't throw them.
● Defense Against Knees and Elbows: Decent.

Araujo doesn't like the clinch, which makes perfect sense given her cardio concerns, as energy can be sapped very quickly there. Luckily, she is strong and has solid technique, able to get the separation she wants quickly most of the time.

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GRAPPLING

● Wrestling from a Shot: Good, with a nice double-leg she hits again and again, as well as being able to catch kicks and hit outside trips.
● Wrestling in the Clinch: Difficult to say, as she is simply trying to gain separation here, as noted above.
● Takedown Defense: Good, with a neat sprawl she can sometimes convert into top position, and utterly neutralizing capable wrestlers like Talita Bernardo, Alexis Davis, and Montana De La Rosa while her strength lasts.
● Ability to Return to Feet: Very good, able to scramble into top position or scramble back up to her feet immediately after being taken down. That is, if she has enough energy. If she doesn't, she simply stays on the bottom.
● Submissions: Almost non-existent on this level, and not the focus of her style.
● Defense and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu From the Bottom: Difficult to say, since we have only seen her on the bottom when she is tired, and in that case, she is quite poor, simply stuck on the bottom absorbing punches, as we saw against Alexis Davis.
● Top control: Non-existent most of the time. Gives opponents way too much space and they can often just stand back up easily.
● Ground-and-Pound: Competent in the rare moments she stays on top, with the occasional meaningful punch.

As a wrestler, Araujo may be one of the best at 125 pounds. She is able to defend very well against takedowns, and scrambles back up especially well in the rare event that she is on the canvas at all. Offensively, she has a nice double-leg, can catch opponent's kicks, and score on outside trips. Unfortunately, she is no threat at all from top position, giving opponents too much space to the point that they can easily stand up. Her submissions are nothing to worry about, either. It's hard to tell how she is from the bottom, as she is only there when gassed, in which case she is stuck absorbing ground-and-pound.

INTANGIBLES

● Athleticism and General Physical Strength: Good, definitely strong and agile while her energy lasts.
● Cardio: Mediocre; slows down a little after Round 1, although she is now still highly effective in Round 2, and only starts feeling winded at some point in Round 3. Does regain a portion of her energy between rounds, making her very dangerous at the beginning of each stanza.
● Chin: Decent; a good connect will certainly hurt her, but she has never been close to being knocked out.
● Recuperative Powers: Pretty good, recovering fairly quickly after sustaining hard blows from Andrea Lee.
● Intelligence: Okay, showing improvement in skill over her career and trying to manage her energy well over the course of the fight, though some of her tactical decisions are baffling, like using her terrible right hook instead of her excellent overhand right.