Athletes
"Hit Hard And Hurt" | Amanda Lemos
Brazilian Power-Puncher Eyes Path Back To The Strawweight Title Picture
Amanda Lemos owns a well-earned reputation as one of the hardest punchers in women’s MMA. It’s a sight to behold if you’re a spectator and a force to be feared if you’re standing across from her. It nearly belies her svelte 5’ 4” frame, and begets the question: where exactly does it come from?
“I don't know if it’s a natural gift. I didn’t use to get into street fights, but I think I was born with this power.”
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It’s strangely the best explanation for the phenomenon, one that is reinforced by her coaches and foes alike.
“In my daily sessions, the goal is always to hurt and hit hard. My coaches tell me I have a lot of power, so I trust them. I trust what they say and I try to apply that in the Octagon. My opponents also tell me that, so it’s good to know I’m on the right path.”
The right path, indeed. Lemos’s last outing was her first UFC title shot at August’s UFC 292. Things didn’t go her way that night vs current champ Zhang Weili, but her reason for being there was no mystery, either.
“I didn’t lose that fight by knockout or submission. Despite everything I went through to be in that fight, I managed to go five rounds and that comforted me.”
As it should. It was Zhang’s first five-round decision win since her epic bout with Joanna Jędrzejczyk years earlier, widely regarded as one of the greatest fights in company history. They say hindsight is 20-20, but even if it is, Lemos isn’t interested in how her fight might have gone differently.
Rise Of Amanda Lemos
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Rise Of Amanda Lemos
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“A lot of things happened, but that’s beside the point. I think that was her night. She got the win. She is the champion. But it's only a matter of time for me to be the next champion of the division."
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“It’s hard. Losing is never nice. It was really tough, but I really trust God. So that was supposed to happen. I had to lose.”
She says this with the placid stoicism that gives her fighting power an almost unsettling edge. Her supremely even-keeled demeanor sits in contradiction to her freight train force on fight night, a force that has racked up a 13-3-1 pro record, with nine of those wins coming by KO.
It’s Mackenzie Dern that will next be challenged by that force on Saturday when the two meet in the featured prelim of UFC 298 in Anaheim. Lemos had been preparing for Tatiana Suarez—herself a strawweight on the cusp of title contention—when Suarez was forced to withdraw due to injury. Both Suarez and Dern have reached their heights on the strength of their respective ground games, so the pivot in camp wasn’t too profound.
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“We just continued the work we’d been doing, except for a few changes. Tatiana is a grappler, but she rarely gets a submission. She just keeps the fight on the ground. Mackenzie is a jiu-jitsu fighter, so we’ve made some adjustments to her game. But that was already our focus. We were already training for that. I'm sure I'll impose my game and get the win on Saturday.”
She speaks of Dern in a cerebral tone.
“I knew that sooner or later we’d face each other and the moment has come. She took this fight and we're going to do our best on Saturday and put on a show for the crowd.”
But after that show concludes, Suarez is still squarely in her crosshairs.
“A win over Tatiana would have put me back in the title picture. But she left her fight injured. That’s part of the game. I'm focused on Mackenzie and on beating her on Saturday. And then I’ll try to fight Tatiana to see who gets the title. 2024 will be a year full of wins and achievements, which will lead me to another title shot.”
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria took place live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California on February 17, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
