Japanese strawweight Mizuki had won her last fight, a decision over Hannah Goldy, in 2023 and was 2-1 in the UFC overall.

A former LFA champ, Brazil’s Amorim looked a little tighter early, more mobile and composed. Mizuki worked her way forward, coming close to catching a kick a couple of times. Two minutes in, however, and Amorim found her opening, shooting and landing a takedown. Mizuki did a good job getting back up, but was soon taken down once again; this time, Amorim was able to get her hooks in and hunt a rear-naked choke.

Mizuki rolled, and escaped the choke, but that allowed Amorim to move to mount. Another roll from Mizuki, and she came close to reversing, eventually winding up on top. That allowed her to land some punches to the side of the head while Amorim closed her guard, seemingly happy to work off her back. Some big punches hit home for Mizuki, scoring some damage to end the round.

The fight went back to the ground early in round two, with Amorim this time attacking leg, a possible kneebar in play. Mizuki fended it off for a time, but wound up on her back before working her way back to her feet, two minutes still on the clock. Amorim then jumped guard, but despite her ground game, that ultimately just allowed Mizuki to get to work on top. Amorim threw up a triangle, but the Japanese fighter broke free with ease. Mizuki found space for some ground n’ pound in those last few minutes, making the round close and finishing strong.

Amorim looked to have lost a step in the third, shooting from too far out, practically in slow motion. In a clinch, Mizuki hurt Amorim, landing a knee and several uppercuts, then another knee, and one more uppercut. Amorim fell back, Mizuki getting on top and working over the body. Mizuki finally got back up, forcing a tiring Amorim back to her feet. A clash of heads followed; Mizuki then ripped the body, hurting Amorim. Mizuki, however, was badly bloodied from that headbutt. She hit the body again, and Amorim shot for a takedown out of desperation. Mizuki got up, hit another body shot, and wound up with Amorim shooting again, only for Mizuki to get back on top. At this point, Mizuki was winning where ever the fight went, both on the ground and on the feet. She underscored what looked to be a winning performance by landing several hard ground strikes to end the bout.

Official Result: Mizuki Inoue def. Jaqueline Amorim by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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Amorim, a former LFA champ, was looking for her fourth consecutive win under the UFC banner. And early on, she had the fight right where she wanted it, on top, then in side control, easily out-working fellow Brazilian Viana on the mat.

Viana, who was on the opposite trajectory having lost two straight, had to contend with a kimura attempt as the midway mark of the round arrived. Viana gutted that out, but Amorim was able to transition to mount, putting Polyana Viana in an even worse spot. Viana tried to buck her opponent off, to no avail. From bottom, she then tried to tie up Amorim’s arms, also without much in the way of success. Amorim, meanwhile, was looking for space to land ground n’ pound while trying to set up an arm-bar.

Try as she might, Viana could not escape from underneath a dominant Jaqueline Amorim. She did survive the frame, and oddly, the ref mistook the 10-second clapper as the horn to end the round. It did not change much, however, with Amorim dominant through five minutes and clearly winning the round.

Polyana Viana was once again on her back just seconds into round two. Amorim was quickly able to move into side control, though Viana clamped down on an arm with her legs to stall her progress. That didn’t really work however, and Viana gave up her back. With a body triangle in place, Amorim had three and a half minutes to work for a choke. Viana fought the hands for a moment, but before long, she was tapping, and Jaqueline Amorim had her fourth straight win, and fourth straight stoppage!

Official Result: Jaqueline Amorim def. Polyana Viana by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:49

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Amorim (8-1) came into the fight on a two-fight win streak with victories over Montserrat Conejo and Cory McKenna. The Brazilian strawweight hoped to build momentum with a win at UFC Vegas 97.

Demopoulos (11-5) was coming off a tough split-decision victory over Emily Ducote in May, and a decision win over Kanako Murata last October. With a bit more UFC experience than her opponent she could have been on the verge of something big with an impressive victory.

What played out on Saturday included just a little bit of controversy in the end. Amorim opened the action with a kick, then fanned on a second one. Demopoulos fired one of her own, but it was caught, leading to the first takedown of the fight. Demopoulos, on her back, looked to push off the fence, but Amorim’s defensive grappling was on point, and she repositioned the pair, out at center.

That allowed Amorim to posture up and land a few punches, before working her way to mount, or close to it, before Demopoulos managed to trap a leg. Vanessa tried to reverse, however, and gave up her back in the process. Demopoulos then began complaining that Amorim’s hands were in her gloves, but despite that, Amorim transitioned to an arm-bar and soon forced the tap! No review, and the result stood with Amorim announced the winner.

Official Result: Jaqueline Amorim def. Vanessa Demopoulos by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 3:28

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As it turned out, in the case of Saturday’s Fight Night card, it worked out for the best, though the event was not without its share of weirdness.

On that front, the women’s strawweight prelim between Jaqueline Amorim and Cory McKenna had an absolutely bizarre finish, with Amorim essentially submitting her opponent twice. Early in the sequence, Amorim, a former LFA champ, appeared to have “Poppins” ready to tap to an arm-bar. Just as she appeared to start the motion, ref Mike Beltran yelled “stop,” but Amorim released the pressure on the hold just a little early, and McKenna never actually completed the tapping motion.

The ref then ordered the action to continue, but luckily for Amorim, she never let go of the limb, and wound up finishing with the arm-bar anyway.

A new one, even in the strange world of MMA. Still, for her efforts, Amorim earned one of four Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 88. No Fight of the Night was announced for the card.

The other big winners included main event heavyweight Marcin Tybura, who choked out a game Tai Tuivasa after a brief slugfest. Though Tybura has been bloodied early, he maintained the wherewithal to take the back, rain down an uncanny amount of ground n’ pound, and finally lock up the rear-naked choke.

Tuivasa went unconscious rather than tap, after trying to wait out the choke.

Jafel Filho, for a submission of Ode Osbourne, and Macy Chiasson, who likewise submitted Pannie Kianzad (for the second time, after the pair first fought as part of The Ultimate Fighter 28 finale), also earned Performance of the Night bonuses.

All four bonus-winners will pocket an extra $50,000 for their efforts.

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The bout was McKenna’s first since late 2022; Amorim was last seen in August of last year.

McKenna showed some quick footwork and a leg kick early, while Amorim worked her jab. When they went to the ground off a caught kick, not exactly an unforeseen development, it was McKenna on top, but Amorim threw up a triangle, giving McKenna something to defend. McKenna then hoisted Amorim up and slammed her, but couldn’t break free.

From there, Jaqueline Amorim transitioned to the arm-bar, and had a near-finish, but the ref was a little late, and McKenna hadn’t fully tapped. Amorim, however, backed off, and the ref ordered the pair to keep going even though he initially said stop. Luckily for Amorim, she held on to the submission and moments later McKenna was forced to tap.

A bizarre finish, especially with the confusing call from ref Mike Beltran, but the right fighter won in the end. After the win, Amorim called for a spot on UFC 301 in Rio in May.

Official Result: Jaqueline Amorim def. Cory McKenna by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:38

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Strawweight Amorim (7-1) pounded out Montserrat Ruiz in the third round of a fight she had absolutely dominated to that point, using superb grappling to put the fight out of reach before putting her opponent away.

“Today I finally got to show what I’m capable of inside the octagon,” Amorim told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight, backstage at the UFC Apex. “It’s just like, I have no words, just got a lot of feelings right now.”

Amorim knew there were things she needed to address after her loss to Hughes back in April. Plenty of areas where she could grow.

“Yes. After my UFC debut, I knew I had a lot of mistakes, so I came back to my team to correct some mistakes. I wanted to be dominant today, so I stepped inside the octagon with my mind, like— I wanted to be able to show dominance and that’s exactly what I did. I’m just happy.”

Fight camp leading into UFC Vegas 78 was not without its own obstacles, she later revealed.

“During this camp, I had a lot of tough moments that I was not believing in myself. I spent a week off of this fight camp, I was just so frustrated,” Amorim explained. “I had some injuries in the camp. There were days where I would just cry, the training wasn’t going well, I was down on myself, but thankfully I have a great team behind me. I put my mind in place, trust in the process, believe in myself. I just stepped into the octagon with my mind like, to show what I’m capable of.”

Moving forward, Amorim has a return date in mind. The UFC is rumored to head back to Brazil in November, and Amorim would like to be a part of that card.

“I know they’ll have UFC Brazil in November, so thank God I didn’t have any injuries. So if the UFC wants, I’ll be ready to fight in UFC Brazil in November. That’s one of my dreams, since I signed with the UFC, so if the UFC wants, I’ll be ready November to fight in the UFC in Brazil,” she stated. “I’ll be ready to fight in front of my fans, my family, my dad. Yeah.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 78 post-fight press conference with Jaqueline Amorim above.

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Ruiz was looking to bounce back from a loss to Amanda Lemos, expected to compete for strawweight gold later this month. The Mexican had been out since that 2021 fight, however, while Amorim had debuted with the promotion earlier this year, coming up short against Sam Hughes.

Amorim went right after it to open Saturday’s contest, putting Ruiz against the fence then taking her down. Amorim worked to slide through to mount, while Ruiz clamped down on her leg. Amorim did end up mounting, working to set up an arm-triangle, while dropping ground n’ pound. Amorim had Ruiz flattened out, and still had half a round on the clock. Some big blows forced Ruiz to cover up; Amorim trapped an arm, and was just having her way with the Mexican strawweight.

A warning to avoid the back of the head had Amorim wary, but she continued to drop bombs while Ruiz tried to roll to create a scramble. Instead, Amorim latched on with a body triangle, then transitioned to a picture-perfect arm-bar! Ruiz rolled with it, eventually getting on top, but she was badly out of position. Still, a solid show of guys and defense, though Ruiz would have to endure a downpour of hammerfists before being saved by the bell.

Coming off a possible 10-8 round, Ruiz looked to strike her way in, but within a minute ate a head ate clean. Despite that, it was Ruiz landed on top as the pair went down. Amorim quickly swept and got on top, firing hammerfists and locking in another body triangle. Throughout the fight, Amorim had bullied Ruiz, and there was more of that in round two with Ruiz in a world of hurt. Ruiz briefly looked to turn in and reverse, but Amorim was wise to that and adjusted, getting to full mount in the process.

Amorim would next set up an arm-triangle choke, but Ruiz defended that. Back to ground n’ pound went Amorim, with Ruiz trying to buck her off, flailing on the bottom. Amorim added an elbow or two, just nasty, then transitioned to an arm-bar attempt. Hammerfists again rained down at the end of the round, only for Ruiz to be saved by the bell — but she had likely given up another 10-8 round given how one-sided things were.

Saved by the bell 🔔🔔🔔

We go to R3! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/28eWCVawYe

— UFC (@ufc) August 12, 2023

Round three opened with an Amorim leg kick. Ruiz missed with a high kick, and Amorim fanned on one of her own. Another kick did land for Amorim, but Ruiz went on the attack and actually got on top in a takedown. But Amorim had basically accepted that takedown, closing her guard and hitting the body from bottom. Given how far up on the scorecards Amorim was, she likely felt comfortable on her back even if Ruiz won the round — which was no guarantee with Amorim’s ground skills. Ruiz worked in a bit of ground n’ pound, then fended off a sweep. The next sweep saw Amorim using a Kimura to get on top, where she began dropping ground n’ pound, bringing in the ref to wave things off!

Official Result: Jaqueline Amorim def. Montserrat Ruiz by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 3, 3:41

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Now a six-fight veteran of the UFC, Hughes was an Invicta FC veteran who had seen a two-fight win streak snapped in her last outing, against Piera Rodriguez.

Amorim, meanwhile, was undefeated, and a bonafide threat on the ground.

To open up the fight it was Amorim throwing volume on the outside. A few times Amorim landed her looping right hand. Hughes was walking forward but not throwing anything. Instead, she ended up walking right into a takedown from Amorim.

While that could have been dicey, Amorim was too aggressive on the back, and she lost position and let Hughes back up. Staying on the bone Amorim kept on the high crotch takedown and got the fight back down. Amorim that time got her hooks in and put in a deep rear-naked choke. Somehow Hughes escaped and got to her feet but with Amorim still on her back. Against Amorim locked in the rear-naked choke and Hughes fell back to the mat. Again Hughes was toughing it out and she survived the round. Amorim did land another right hand right at the bell.

Sam Hughes REFUSES to tap!! 😳 #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/l30pyoYsrq

— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2023

In round two, Huges came forward with pressure and was forcing Amorim to pull guard. Amorim was able to pull guard and pull Hughes in her guard. It didn’t work out for Amorim as she held the body triangle until Hughes got right back up. Amorim was definitely gassed as she kept shooting too far out and then pulling guard. Even when Amorim was getting Hughes in her guard she wasn’t doing anything. Amorim did go for a heel hook at the end of the round but Hughes had everything scouted.

In the final round, things started with forward pressure from Hughes. Every time they would clash Amorim would just fall to her back. Hughes was happy to be in guard as she was doing all the offensive work. Hughes hung around in the guard for a large amount of time landing some good ground and pound. Amorim was let back up but just crumbled back down with Hughes came forward.

On the scorecards, it was Hughes taking the second and third round — zero surprise. Hughes rained all over the parade that was Amorim’s UFC debut, taking her undefeated record in the process.

Official Result: Sam Hughes def. Jaqueline Amorim by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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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.

The post Welcome to the UFC: Jaqueline Amorim appeared first on Cageside Press.

Amorim (6-0) will face Sam Hughes (7-5) as part of UFC 287 on April 8, 2023. The Pay-Per-View event takes place at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida, topped by a rematch between middleweight champion Alex Pereira and rival Israel Adesanya.

Cageside Press confirmed the booking following an initial report by Meni Mayer.

Capturing the LFA 115lb title in style with a kneebar submission against Loveth Young, IBJJF champ Amorim returned to defend her title in September. In the first and only defense of her LFA championship, she submitted Ashley Nichols via armbar.

Amorim signed with the UFC later the same month.

Sam Hughes had a two-fight win streak snapped in her last outing, losing a unanimous decision opposite Piera Rodriguez. Prior to that, she had won a majority decision against Istela Nunes, then stopped Elise Reed, leaving “Sampage” with a 2-1 record in 2022.

April 8, 2023’s UFC 287 card will also feature the return of Jorge Masvidal, in a welterweight co-main event with Gilbert Burns. The following fights have been reported for the event:

• Alex Pereira (c) vs. Israel Adesanya — for the UFC middleweight championship
• Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
• Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez
• Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer
• Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Steve Garcia
• Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Nikolas Motta
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
• Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
• Michelle Waterson vs. Luana Pinheiro
• Michael Chiesa vs. Li Jingliang
• Sam Hughes vs. Jaqueline Amorim

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