Las Vegas — Brazilian strawweight Amanda Lemos returned to the win column at UFC 313, turning back up-and-comer Iasmin Lucindo with strong grappling that took her to a unanimous decision on the scorecards.
What a difference a win makes. Lemos (15-4-1) was coming off a defeat against Virna Jandiroba, and given her 2023 loss to champ Weili Zhang, a second straight setback might have been cataclysmic for her career. Instead, she’s now 2-1 since that title fight, with an additional win over the high-profile Mackenzie Dern last February.
“We worked a lot for this, I have worked a lot,” Lemos told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight, backstage at the T-Mobile Arena. “Where ever people were attacking me. I think that the girls were basically attacking my weak points, which was the grappling, the ground game. It was really good to actually win and just dominate like that, and be on top all the time.”
The storyline coming into the fight was youth versus experience. Lucindo is the new girl on the block, a full 14 years younger than Lemos. For Amanda Lemos, however, it wasn’t just experience that won her the fight. She’s feeling physically good as well at age 37.
“A lot has been said about the age gap, but I’ll tell you what: I have never felt so good, as good as I am right now,” stated Lemos. “It does not matter who I face, it doesn’t matter how much younger this person is, it matters how good I feel at the moment right now.”
With that in mind, Lemos is hoping to keep the ball rolling and compete a few more times in 2025. “The year started off on the right foot. I’m coming [out of] here with a win, showing exactly to the division that I’ve improved where they saw flaws. And I want to fight a couple times still, a couple times before the end of the year.”
Motivating her is her preteen daughter, who has yet to be able to travel with Lemos to see her mother fight live. That’s something the Brazilian hopes will soon change.
“It is my wish, it is her wish. I want her to see my world up close. I want her to be next to me and see my life, and be with me,” exclaimed Lemos. “It’s a painful process that I go through, but I have a lot of faith, and I think it’s going to get done one day.”
For the time being, her little girl remains a fan at home. And helps her mother keep her diet clean. “She watches all the fights, and she is very demanding. Every time she sees me eating crap, she’s like ‘mom, you’re not supposed to eat that. No mom. No crap.'”
Watch the full UFC 313 post-fight press conference with Amanda Lemos above.
