San Antonio, TX — After previously being booked opposite her only for the fight to fall through, Amanda Lemos finally faces off against fellow title challenger Tatiana Suarez at Noche UFC this Saturday.
Not much has changed between their original date in 2024 and this one, Lemos (15-4-1) explained during Wednesday’s Noche UFC media day.
“Not at all really. The more time, the better to prepare. We all knew this fight was going to take place,” stated Lemos. “We were supposed to fight once before, so just more time to get better. I enjoyed it, and I’m ready to fight.”
There was no worry on Lemos’s part when it came to Suarez potentially pulling out, despite her lengthy history of injury and fight cancellations. “Whether this fight was going to happen or not, she is ranked in the weight class, she’s a good wrestler, she’s got good submissions. So we trained the entire time for that, because we knew meeting each other in the octagon was inevitable.”
Both fighters came up short against Weili Zhang in their respective title bids, both still sit ranked inside the top five in the UFC’s 115lb division: Lemos at #4, Suarez, the most recent title challenger, at #2. The twist now is that Zhang has vacated her title to pursue a belt, and super-fight, against flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko. Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba will face off for the strawweight belt in the wake of that move.
Where that leaves Amanda Lemos, should she pick up a win against Suarez this Saturday, is a key question.
“I truly believe that I decisive win over her will put me right at the doorstep of knocking for a new title shot,” Lemos stated on that front.
Despite the loss to Zhang, the Brazilian contender is chasing the title, not revenge. Asked about getting that win back, Lemos replied by saying that “it really doesn’t matter. I don’t have a personal beef with anybody that has beat me or that I won [against]. My focus is on being the champ, and whoever I have to fight to be the champion of the weight class, to get the belt, that’s who I want to fight, that’s who I want to focus on and compete [against].”
“The people that I have lost to, that I have won [against], none of this really matters to me. I don’t have the type of ego to look to right wrongs and win my rematches, things I’ve lost. I only want to move towards the belt.”
Watch the full Noche UFC media day appearance by Amanda Lemos above.
