Amanda Lemos made the most of her UFC Vegas 64 main event by knocking out a potential No. 1 contender to the strawweight championship.
A notable power puncher and whirling hammers at Marina Rodriguez all through the fight, Lemos’ biggest hit came in the third round with an eerie right hand. Rodriguez was immediately wobbled by the punch and that gave Lemos the opening she needed to rush ahead with a barrage of punches in succession
With Rodriguez pinned against the cage, and responding to no punches from Jason Herzog, the referee had to save her. The third round ended at 54 second.
” We worked so hard,” Lemos stated afterwards. She always puts her back hand on the table and I told Lemos that we would meet in the middle. That was our strategy.
“When I hit her, her legs started wobbling a little bit. I didn’t think twice. I was going to finish the fight right there.”
A slow start with the strawweights hesitant to really engage on the feet actually gave way to some grappling exchanges in the second round, which allowed Lemos to overpower Rodriguez on the ground.
As soon as the fight reached the canvas, Lemos grabbed the back of Rodriguez and almost wrapped her in a neck crank then rear naked choke. But Rodriguez managed to escape and escaped to live. Lemos continued attacking as she took top control while peppering Rodriguez with short but powerful punches to the head and the body.
Then as the third round started, Lemos was surging forward and that’s when she threw a perfectly timed right hook that caught Rodriguez in the head. Rodriguez looked lost and took a step back, giving Lemos the opportunity to win.
Lemos immediate threw a flying knee followed by rapid-fire punches coming from every angle as Rodriguez was just eating punishment without offering any kind of resistance. Rodriguez seemed to protest the stoppage of the fight. However, replays revealed that she took multiple punches and did not attempt to slow Lemos down from just bombarding her with more.
The victory moves Lemos to 7-1 in her past eight fights with her only loss coming in a submission to former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade. With that performance, Lemos is hoping she’ll actually get the call to perhaps help out UFC 281 next week when the strawweight title goes up for grabs in the co-main event between Carla Esparza and Zhang Weili.
“Dana [White], I’m here already,” Lemos shouted. Lemos shouted, “Put my name in as backup for the title fight at New York .”
Rodriguez’s four-fight win streak is over. She will now have to work hard to climb up the ranks in hopes of competing for UFC gold.
Neil Magny sets all-time records for wins at welterweight in UFC
Highlights
Darrick Minner suffers knee injury, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke finishes with barrage of elbows
A knee injury suffered by Darrick Minner allowed Shayilan Nuerdanbieke to pick up a quick first-round TKO finish in just 67 seconds.
The fight came to an end after Minner threw a body kick and when he planted his leg back on the canvas, he grabbed his knee and started limping around the cage. Nuerdanbieke wasted no time attacking Minner as the featherweights went crashing to the canvas.
With Minner behind him, Nuerdanbieke began throwing punches and elbows at Minner until the referee was forced to end the fight. Nuerdanbieke has now earned three straight victories as he moves to 39-10 overall in his career with a 3-1 resume in the UFC.
Tagir Ulanbekov puts Nate Maness away with nasty standing guillotine
Tagir Ulanbekov gave Nate Maness a rude welcome to the flyweight division at UFC Vegas 64.
After a couple of exchanges on the feet, Ulanbekov was able to close the distance and get Maness a takedown before an aggressive scramble enabled him to seize the guillotine choke.
Ulanbekov supported Maness against the cage, tightening up his submission and almost lifting Maness off the floor as he tried to finish. Maness tried his best to resist the standing guillotine choke but alas there was no escape as he was eventually forced to tap out.
Ulanbekov’s win brings him back to track, after losing a controversial decision against Tim Elliott in his last fight. This was his only defeat in the UFC.
Grant Dawson wins then taps Mark O. Madsen
In the main card opener, Grant Dawson made quite a statement with a submission win over previously undefeated lightweight Mark O. Madsen.
Dawson survived an early knockdown before taking Madsen’s back throughout the opening round, which gave him a path to victory. Dawson was able to outwrestle Olympic silver medalist in Greco Roman wrestling and he kept going back to the same game plan over and over.
After dragging Madsen to the canvas repeatedly, Dawson was staying busy with ground and pound while also working towards submission attempts. Dawson almost scored a standing knockout with five minutes left after he hammered Madsen with several calf kicks, which sent the Danish fighter to the ground.
From there, Dawson shredded Madsen’s defense before locking on the fight ending rear naked choke that helped him secure the victory. Dawson is now 7-0-1 in eight fights in the UFC and afterwards he called for a future showdown against Tony Ferguson as he looks to continue his climb up the lightweight ranks.
Full UFC Vegas 64 results
