The Stats Zone
· Ewan Lavender

MMA Preview – Amanda Lemos vs Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 205

MMA Preview – Amanda Lemos vs Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 205

Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!

AMANDA LEMOS VS JESSICA ANDRADE FACTS

When is UFC Fight Night 205? Sunday 24th April, 2022 - 00:00 start (UK)

Where is UFC Fight Night 205? UFC APEX, Enterprise, Nevada (US)

Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night 205? Click here for the tickets at the O2 Arena

What channel is UFC Fight Night 205 on? BT Sport 1

Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 205? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website

For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!

AMANDA LEMOS VS JESSICA ANDRADE LOWDOWN

Amanda Lemos (11-1-1) graces a surprise main event slot and since dropping down to strawweight she is emerging as a future title contender. She has competed up at bantamweight and carried her power down two divisions winning all five of her UFC bouts. She submitted Miranda Granger (2019) and outpointed Mizuki Inoue (2020) before knocking out Livia Renata Souza (2021) and Montserrat Ruiz (2021) in the first round which put everyone on notice. She then proved she can hang with the upper echelon of the division earning a split decision over Angela Hill (2021).

Now, Lemos walks out for the biggest fight of her career taking on the former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (23-9). She drops back down after her short quest for the flyweight gold. She folded top contender Katlyn Chookagian (2020) with a beautiful liver shot to set up a contest with the Queen of the division Valentina Shevchenko (2021) who simply had too much class TKOing Andrade in the second round. She then swatted Cynthia Calvillo away (2021) with another TKO but drops back down to 115 lbs for this exciting match up.

AMANDA LEMOS VS JESSICA ANDRADE PREDICTION

This is the most exciting matchup we have seen in the female divisions for a while. Andrade is one of the most experienced and exciting female fighters on the roster who started her UFC career up at bantamweight. Like Lemos, her power has carried down and she always hunts the finish.

Lemos is also dangerous everywhere. Her bread and butter is her striking with technique to match her power sniping from range. She is very powerful in the clinch with ferocious ground-and-pound. That said, this is a significant step up in competition.

Andrade has shared the cage with the best for years now but what may work against her is the confidence in her hands. She presses forward throwing wild hooks with no regard for her chin and Lemos has the technique to find it. Lemos also has the technique and power to defend the takedown so it is going to be very interesting to see where this fight goes.

She needs to be patient and frustrate Andrade by tagging her from range with one or two shot combinations and eating her legs up with kicks. However, we have not seen enough from Lemos to prove she has the nous and patience to do that to someone of the calibre of Andrade.

We are very high on her and expect her to look great in the first round, and could even catch Andrade clean if she rushes in disrespecting her skill. However, as long as the former champ shows some care for her chin and moves her head like she did in the second fight with Rose Namajunas, she should display her class to seal a late finish or decision.

Prediction: Andrade via KO/TKO - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)

Value Bet: Lemos to win