Amanda Lemos Pulls Off Upset Win Over Marina Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Lemos has pulled off an upset…

The 35-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist finished Marina Rodriguez via TKO at 54 seconds of the third round on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.

Rodriguez was poised for a title shot if she won, but now Lemos has snatched her spot near the top of the rankings.

The finish came after a big counter overhand right by Lemos. The punch landed to Rodriguez’s forehead, as Rodriguez was coming in for a combination of her own. It stopped Rodriguez in her tracks and left her rocked. Lemos pressed forward with another big right hand and then flurried with right and left hooks until referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it.

“Her legs started wobbling a little bit,” Lemos said in her postfight interview. “I didn’t think twice. I’m going to finish the fight right there.”

ESPN had Rodriguez ranked No. 4 in the women’s strawweight division coming in, with Lemos at No. 9. The big stoppage victory should push Lemos closer to title contention.

She proposed the idea of being the backup fighter for the women’s strawweight title fight next week at UFC 281 between champion Carla Esparza and former champ Zhang Weili in New York.

Lemos (13-2-1) has won two straight and seven of her past eight fights. The Brazilian-born slugger has finished five of her seven UFC victories. That ties her with Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade for the most finishes in UFC strawweight history.

Lemos was coming off a second-round submission win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in July. Her only loss at 115 pounds came against Andrade in April.

Rodriguez (16-2-2) had a four-fight winning streak snapped. The Brazilian-born fighter had only lost once before in her MMA career, to Esparza in July 2020.

Rodriguez, 35, was coming off signature wins against contenders Yan Xiaonan and Mackenzie Dern.

Marina Rodriguez to Fight Amanda Lemos at UFC 280

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Marina Rodriguez has lined up her next opponent…

The 35-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist will face Amanda Lemos at UFC 280 on October 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Rodriguez and Lemos, two of the top women’s strawweight fighters in the world, form part of one of the UFC‘s deepest cards of the year.

The winner of the bout could have the inside track on a title shot. Rodriguez is the No. 4 women’s strawweight in ESPN‘s rankings, while Lemos is No. 9.

In addition, sources told ESPN that Rodriguez and former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade have left manager Tiago Okamura to sign with Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, who represents the likes of welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and former pound-for-pound king Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Rodriguez (16-1-2 overall, 6-1-2 UFC) has won four straight and is coming off a split decision win over Yan Xiaonan at UFC 272 in March. The Brazilian fighter’s only career loss was a close split decision defeat to current UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza in 2020.

Lemos (12-2-1), also 35, has won six of her past seven fights, including a second-round submission victory over Michelle Waterson this past weekend at UFC Long Island. The Brazilian fighter’s only loss since 2017 came to Andrade in April. Lemos has finished four of her six wins inside the UFC Octagon.

UFC 280 will be headlined by a fight between former champion Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev for the vacant lightweight title. Also on the card, lightweight standouts Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot will meet in a potential title eliminator.

Tecia Torres to Fight Mackenzie Dern at UFC 273 in April

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Tecia Torres is headed to the Octagon in April…

UFC has added a strawweight bout between the 32-year-old part-Puerto Rican mixed martial artist and Mackenzie Dern to the lineup for UFC 273 on April 9.

Torres announced the bout via social media, and UFC officials confirmed the 115-pound matchup to ESPN. The promotion has not announced a venue or main event for the pay-per-view.

According to UFC‘s official rankings, Dern and Torres ranked fifth and seventh in the strawweight division, respectively.

Torres, who fights out of Colorado, has won three in a row since 2020. The 10-year veteran has turned things around after a four-fight skid from 2018 to 2020. Three of those four losses came against women who have won a UFC championship: Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili.

Fighting out of California, Dern (11-2) suffered a setback in her last bout against surging Marina Rodriguez in October. Before that loss, the submission specialist had won four in a row.

Marina Rodriguez in Final Talks to Fight Mackenzie Dern in October ‘UFC Fight Night”

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Marina Rodriguez has lined up her next challenger…

The UFC is targeting an important strawweight fight between the 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and Mackenzie Dern to headline a card in October, according to ESPN.

Contracts haven’t been signed, but the 115-pound contest is close to being finalized, according to sources.

The fight is expected to headline UFC Fight Night on October 9, at a location to be determined.

Rodriguez and Dern are the Nos. 5- and 6-ranked strawweights, respectively, in UFC.

Rodriguez (14-1-2) is coming off a five-round unanimous decision over Michelle Waterson in May. She has surged up the 115-pound rankings with victories over Waterson and Amanda Ribas. She is 4-1-2 overall in the UFC.

Dern (11-1) has been on a tear since returning to the sport after giving birth to her first child in 2019. She went 3-0 in 2020 with two finishes, including a first-round armbar finish over Nina Nunes in April.

Marina Rodriguez Defeats Michelle Waterson By Unanimous Decision

Posted on May 9, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

And the wins keep on coming for Marina Rodriguez.

The 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist defeated Michelle Waterson, using her Muay Thai striking effectively en route to a unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) win in the UFC Fight Night main event on Saturday in Las Vegas.

It was one of the best career performances for Rodriguez, who didn’t arrive in Las Vegas until Thursday, two days later than every other fighter on the card.

Rodriguez had struggles getting a visa into the United States because of COVID-19 and spent 20 hours in travel over Wednesday and Thursday morning.

But in the end, none of that ended up mattering.

“There were so many challenges, but the big thing was just armoring my mind,” Rodriguez said after the fight through a translator. “The whole team put our shields up. We knew it would be different and we couldn’t be shaken by it.”

The initially scheduled main event Saturday was former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw taking on top contender Cory Sandhagen. But Dillashaw withdrew last week because of injury. That bout will be rebooked.

Rodriguez and Waterson didn’t agree to this bout — up a division at flyweight because of the timing — until April 27, and the UFC didn’t make it official until this past Tuesday.

The first three rounds featured Rodriguez chewing Waterson up with big right hands, knees out of a Thai clinch and elbows with Waterson against the cage. As hard as Rodriguez tried, though, she could not get the durable Waterson out of there. And Waterson mounted a huge comeback in the fourth round.

Waterson took Rodriguez down in the fourth and landed big elbows from half guard. In the fifth round, Waterson landed a head kick that wobbled Rodriguez and caused bad swelling on the left of her jaw. Waterson followed that up with a side kick to the body that clearly hurt Rodriguez. In that final, eventful round, Rodriguez was able to score a head kick late that did damage to Waterson.

Coming in, ESPN had Rodriguez ranked No. 6 in the world at strawweight and Waterson ranked No. 9. Rodriguez said the key factor about overcoming her prefight travel chaos “was we were able to come in, show the work we did and get the victory even with everything going against us.”

Rodriguez added that she aims to target a top-three opponent — maybe Joanna Jedrzejczyk — for her next fight and said she feels like she is close to a title shot.

The bout took place with COVID-19 protocols in effect at the UFC Apex, the facility across the street from the promotion’s corporate campus.

Rodriguez (14-1-2) has just one loss in seven UFC outings and now has two straight wins.

The Muay Thai specialist was coming off a second-round TKO win over prospect Amanda Ribas in January. Rodriguez, 34, has lost only to former champion Carla Esparza in the UFC, but she has a pair of draws against Cynthia Calvillo and Randa Markos.

Waterson (18-9) is the former Invicta FC atomweight champion and one of the most popular women’s fighters on the UFC roster. Fighting out of New Mexico, Waterson was coming off a split decision win over Angela Hill last September, which snapped a two-fight losing skid. Waterson has won four of six fights overall.

“[Waterson is] so experienced,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the thing I knew going into it. When she was Invicta champion, that was [around the same time as] my first Muay Thai class. I looked up to her, too. I knew she was very tough. To go five rounds with her and win, it’s an amazing feat for my career.”

Marina Rodriguez to Fight Michelle Waterson in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Marina Rodriguez is heading to the Octagon…

The 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist will face off against Michelle Waterson in the UFC Fight Night headliner on Saturday in Las Vegas.

The originally scheduled main event between former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and top contender Cory Sandhagen was postponed last week due to a Dillashaw injury.

Rodriguez and Waterson are both top strawweights, but the bout will be contested a division up at flyweight due to the short-notice nature of the situation. The bout will still be five rounds, like typical UFC main events.

ESPN has Rodriguez ranked No. 6 in the world at strawweight; Waterson comes in at No. 9.

Rodriguez (13-1-2) has just one loss in six UFC appearances. She is coming off a second-round TKO win over prospect Amanda Ribas in January.

Rodriguez has lost just once in her career, to former UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza in a split decision last July.

Waterson (18-8) is one of the most well-known women’s fighters in mixed martial arts. Nicknamed “The Karate Hottie,” the New Mexico resident is coming off a split decision win over Angela Hill last September. Waterson has won four of her past six bouts with the only losses coming against Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, another former UFC champion.

Cynthia Calvillo to Fight Jessica Eye in UFC Fight Night Bout in June

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Cynthia Calvillo is heading back to the Octagon next month.

The 32-year-old Latina mixed martial artist and fellow UFC women’s flyweight Jessica Eye have agreed to fight on June 13 at UFC Fight Night, according to ESPN.

The bout would headline the event, sources said, though a location wasn’t immediately known.

Eye (15-7, 1 NC) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Viviane Araujo at UFC 245 in December. It was her first fight since she challenged for the flyweight title and suffered a devastating head-kick knockout to champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 238 last June.

Eye, who is currently ESPN‘s No. 8-ranked women’s flyweight, has won four of her past five fights.

Calvillo (8-1-1) returns to the Octagon after fighting to a majority draw with Marina Rodriguez in December. That bout was fought at a catchweight after Calvillo missed the contracted strawweight limit.

Next Saturday’s UFC cardis expected to take place at the company’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The location is subject to change until Wednesday, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission is scheduled to formally vote on reopening the state to combat sports.

NSAC officials indefinitely suspended all combat sports in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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