Miami, Florida is the home of UFC 287 this Saturday. The card is headlined between former middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and the man who dethroned him, Alex Pereira. Outside of that, it’s a stacked card. To open up the card, former LFA strawweight champ Jaqueline Amorim is making her UFC debut. She’s fighting six-fight UFC veteran Sam Hughes.
Jaqueline “Jacque” Amorim
Standing at five-foot-five
Fighting at 115 lbs (strawweight)
27-years-old
Fighting out of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Training out of American Top Team
A pro record of 6-0
1 KO/TKO, 5 Submissions
How Amorim will fare in the UFC
Amorim has only been competing in MMA for a little over two years. Before that, she was a highly touted jiu-jitsu practitioner. Some of her accomplishments in BJJ are being IBJJF World Champion, IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, CBJJ Brasil Champion, and more. She burst onto the LFA scene in 2021, starting off with a first-round submission and then a 10-second knockout. Amorim was then awarded a title shot against a really dangerous Loveth Young. Not dangerous enough as Amorim submitted her in round one. Last September she defended her title and is now in the UFC.
Amorim has looked darn good but there are a lot of questions. What if she can’t get the fight to the ground? Yes, she has a knockout win but that was before the fight even got started. How will she look if she can’t find the finish in the first round? Amorim has never fought outside the first round so her cardio is in question. How will Amorim deal with adversity? Amorim has never been dropped or taken down. Of what I’ve seen she’s never really been hit clean. How will Amorim adapt in the fight once the game plan isn’t working out? So far, Amorim has been in full control in all her fights and everything has gone perfectly for her.
I can’t say much about her striking but her jiu-jitsu is excellent. However, even her wrestling is a big question. From the takedowns I’ve seen her takedown entrances are telegraphed. She’s good once she closes the distance but I worry about how she closes the distance. Grappling she’s at her best. Amorim has five submission wins and four of those come by different subs. She’s finished with an armbar twice, arm-triangle, kneebar, and a rear-naked choke. So, Amorim is diverse on the mat.
I do like the signing but it couldn’t have hurt to see a little more of her before bringing her into the UFC. Hard to tell her ceiling when there are so many unknowns. I would imagine she will be good but don’t know how good.
How Amorin and Hughes match up:
Hughes is tough for Amorim on the feet but she has shown over her UFC run that her takedown defense isn’t great. Of the six UFC fights Hughes had she’s been taken down twelve times. I’m not sure Amorim’s wrestling is as good but I do know she’s the best jiu-jitsu player Hughes has fought. I can’t be confident but I think it would it just one takedown from Amorim to get the job done. I’m picking Jaqueline Amorim because I can’t trust the TDD of Hughes. Not confident though.
