Kansas City — Brazilian strawweight Denise Gomes spoiled the debut of fellow 2022 Contender Series alum Bruna Brasil at UFC Kansas City on Saturday night.
Gomes (7-2) decked Brasil with a right hand before piling on with ground strikes to find the finish. After the fight, Gomes spoke about her power, uncommon for the strawweight division, and noted that it’s not just physical power that she possesses.
“A lot of people say that that’s a differential that I bring, that I bring something different. That helps me believe a lot in myself,” Gomes told media outlets including Cageside Press. “I do believe there’s something different in me, and not just in the physical power. I think that there’s a will, and that’s what moves me to fight.”
Now 1-1 in the UFC and coming off her first win, Gomes stated that against Brasil, “I was able to show myself, show everything that I can accomplish— I was able to a lot of myself in that loss [to Loma Lookboonmee], that I can be a tough opponent and someone tough to beat, but I was able to show now that whenever you fight me, you’re going to have a tough opponent on the other side. And I can show a lot more.”
After having her own UFC debut spoiled, Gomes turned around and rained all over Bruna Brasil’s promotional debut. She spoke to that following the bout.
“The debut is always an important moment, for everyone, to step into the octagon for the first time in the UFC,” said Gomes. “There is a weight that carries with that. Every athlete feels that. And I was able to, in that first fight, kind of shake off that feeling of stepping in the first time. From now on, it’s onward from here.”
Watch the full UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference with Denise Gomes above.
