Amanda Lemos believes she is operating at an entirely different level than she was one year ago.
Last August, Lemos lost to Weili Zhang in a women’s strawweight title bout at UFC 292. Not only did Zhang win the bout, she also set a record in the victory–delivering the biggest striking differential in women’s UFC history after outlanding Lemos, 288 to 21, during the five-round fight.
To her credit, Lemos finished the fight, which she lost by unanimous decision. She then returned this past February at UFC 298 and defeated Mackenzie Dern by unanimous decision in a three-round bout, and now feels she is only one victory away from a rematch against Zhang.
Lemos (14-3-1) has that opportunity on Saturday when she faces Virna Jandiroba in the main event at UFC Fight Night.
“I don’t see it any other way,” said Lemos, speaking through a translator. “With a win on Saturday, I’m right back.
“My goal is to always improve and evolve. When I have failures, that’s what I do. I train to improve and be better. My fight against Mackenzie showed that, and now I can show more of my evolution on Saturday against Virna.”
The only contender likely ahead of Lemos is Tatiana Suarez. But that is complicated as Suarez has dealt with injuries. Suarez was scheduled to fight Lemos at UFC 298, but she withdrew from the matchup, which led to Dern taking that spot on the card.
“Tatiana, I don’t know if she’s injured,” said Lemos. “I don’t know when she’s coming back. Right now, my focus is 100 percent on Virna. She’s the next step.”
Lemos will have a tough bout with Jandiroba (20-3), who has won her last three. This isn’t a bout of young contenders–Lemos is 37 while Jandiroba is 36–but that will not change the result. The winner of this bout puts herself in an excellent position to be next in line to challenge for the belt.
“I’m ready to finish the fight,” said Lemos. “I’m ready for another victory. That will put me back in a title shot against Weili.”
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