About Vanessa Demopoulos

Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos (born September 22, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, her parents and paternal grandparents raised her in Greece, as she is half Greek herself and Greek is her first language. After she got involved with drugs and became homeless as a teenager, she got her life back together by following in her mother's footsteps at the age of 18, becoming an exotic dancer, continuing in the profession until right before her appearance at UFC 270.

Demopoulos started training in MMA around the age of 21, however her childhood was filled with fighting, even getting kicked out of schools for fighting.