Former UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Amanda Lemos faced off with fellow Brazilian Iasmin Lucindo as part of Saturday night’s UFC 313 main card in Las Vegas.
Lemos, visibly the smaller of the pair, was on the outside early, hands high, feet active – both mobile with lateral movement, and throwing kicks. Lemos showed patience, but soon enough found herself back to the fence, Lucindo driving into her. Yet when the takedown came, it was Lemos landing on top care of a trip.
From there, Lemos was in the driver’s seat, with Lucindo attempting, with varying degrees of success, to tie her up. Lemos found a bit of space to work, landing one smashing elbow with about 30 seconds in the frame, but for the most part, Lucindo escaped the round unscathed.
Still not a good look for Iasmin Lucindo, who spent the back half of the round just there – on her back.
Lucindo slipped off a spinning kick early in round two, while Lemos found the mark with her jab. Lucindo was doing a lot of twitching and feinting, but it was a leg kick by Amanda Lemos that got her really moving – nearly taken off her feet in fact. That led to a clinch, Lucindo trying to drive Lemos into the cage again. Underhooks saw Lemos turn that around, while the crowd let their displeasure at the grappling-heavy display be heard.
When they went down, it was Lemos on top again, a similar scene to want transpired in the first. Not a ton of action, but plenty of control for the former title challenger, who was winning the fight pretty much from that top time.
Early in the third, lacking any signicicant strikes in the fight and desperately in need to flip the script, it was Lucindo landing a takedown off a trip and coming out on top. She briefly passed to side control, but Lemos regained half guard. The only problem was, down two rounds, Lucindo needed a finish. Lemos found herself in trouble for a minute, with Lucindo getting back to side control. Lemos slipped out, however, reversing off the fence, getting to her feet, then landing her own takedown. Lucindo wasn’t about the throw anything up off her back that late in the fight, instead closing her guard. That put a fork in the fight, with Lemos coming away with the decision victory.
For much of the fight, Lucindo appeared stuck in first gear, while Lemos used veteran smarts to cruise to a decision. The win sees Amanda Lemos bounce back from a loss to Virna Jandiroba last time out.
Official Result: Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
