Perhaps the window for Karolina Kowalkiewicz was not entirely shut.
As Kowalkiewicz and Demopoulos march toward their forthcoming battle at 115 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
37: Years of age for Kowalkiewicz, who was born in Lodz, Poland, on Oct. 15, 1985.
3: Kowalkiewicz wins by submission, accounting for 22% of her career total (14). Her methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes and one armbar. Kowalkiewicz holds one other win by knockout or technical knockout (7%) and 10 more by decision (71%).
954: Significant strikes landed by Kowalkiewicz as a UFC women’s strawweight, placing her fourth on the promotion’s all-time list at 115 pounds. Only Joanna Jedrzejczyk (1,676), Angela Hill (1,669) and Tecia Torres (976) have been credited with more.
44: Rounds completed by Kowalkiewicz as a professional mixed martial artist. She has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and carries a 10-4 record in those bouts.
124: Combined victories between the seven opponents—Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Penne, Xiaonan Yan, Alexa Grasso, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Jessica Andrade and Claudia Gadelha—who have beaten Kowalkiewicz. They sport a cumulative .734 winning percentage at 124-45.
34: Years of age for Demopoulos, who was born on Sept. 22, 1988 in Cleveland.
4: Demopoulos victories by submission, accounting for 45% of her career total (nine). Her methods of choice: three armbars and one inverted triangle choke. Demopoulos owns one other victory by knockout or technical knockout (10%) and four more by decision (45%).
105: Days spent by Demopoulos as Legacy Fighting Alliance women’s strawweight champion. She captured the title with a fourth-round technical submission of Sam Hughes at LFA 85 on July 7, 2020, then relinquished it in a five-round majority decision loss to Lupita Godinez at LFA 94 on Oct. 30, 2020.
37: Seconds needed for Demopoulos to punch out Cynthia Arceo at LFA 103 in March 2021. More than two years later, it remains her fastest finish to date.
.696: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Godinez, J.J. Aldrich, Cory McKenna and Itzel Esquivel—who have defeated Demopoulos. They boast a combined record of 32-14.