Marina Rodriguez-Amanda Lemos added to growing UFC 280 lineup

Any one of the fights booked thus far for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s October return to “Fight Island” could headline an event.

The UFC 280 event on Oct. 22 continues to swell with talent and scintillating, as Combate reported on Thursday that a likely strawweight title eliminator will join its billing. Marina Rodriguez (16-1-2) will be taking on Amanda Lemos (12-2-1) in a pivotal 115-pound clash, and the victor should almost certainly crack into the title picture. The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN confirmed this booking shortly after its announcement on Thursday.

Rodriguez has rebounded from her first professional defeat — a split decision loss to former and future champ Carla Esparza in 2020 — in resounding fashion, with four straight victories on her ledger. A knockout of Amanda Ribas springboarded her into a main event matchup with Michelle Waterson Gomez, and she passed that test with flying colors to move on to another Fight Night headliner. In this October 2021 showdown with Mackenzie Dern, she survived the worse of the grappling to take home a clear-cut decision. Since then, the Brazilian skated by a three-rounder with Xiaonan Yan where  scoring media members were perfectly split as its winner.

“Amandinha” has looked fearsome since her shift down to 115 pounds, as the former bantamweight joined the division’s ranks in 2019. Three finishes in five triumphs scored her a prime main event spot against ex-champion Jessica Andrade, only for Lemos to suffer her first submission defeat. The standing arm-triangle choke from Andrade snapped the win streak, but Lemos got back on track by tapping Waterson-Gomez with a nasty guillotine choke in July. The Marajo Brothers Team representative celebrates a solid finish rate of 83%, which is far higher than her opponent’s of 44%.

UFC 280 will go down at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 22. The “Fight Island” show will be highlighted by a pair of championship bouts, with the main attraction for the vacant lightweight throne between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. The co-headliner sees Aljamain Sterling put his belt up against ex-divisional king T.J. Dillashaw. It is unclear how the UFC will structure the remainder of the main card, with three other major matchups on the billing thus far: Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot at lightweight, Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady in the welterweight division and former champ Petr Yan taking on Sean O'Malley at 135 pounds.