Bash check java version - not comparing strings properly

Can anyone see what I have done wrong here?

local VERSION=$(java -version 2>&1 | grep "java version")
if [[ ! "$VERSION" =~ *"1.8.0_33"* ]]; then
  ERROR (not code, just place holder)
else
  NO ERROR (not code, just place holder)
fi

Thanks for the quick help!

* UPDATE *

Here is what else I have tried:

local VERSION=$(java -version 2>&1 | grep "java version")
if [[ "$VERSION" != *"1.8.0_33"* ]];  then
  Error blah blah not using 1.8.0_33
else
  Good to go
fi

This is in a function all by itself. No other nested anything.

GNU bash, version 4.2.37(1)-release (arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf)