UFC Fight Night: Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara Preview & Prediction
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On the main card, former title challenger meets surging prospect, as Amanda Lemos looks to halt Alexia Thainara’s rise at strawweight.
Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara facts
What time are Amanda Lemos and Alexia Thainara expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? Meta Apex, Enterprise, USA
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 284
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld main card
Mateusz Gamrot vs Quillan Salkilld (Lightweight)
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Billy Quarantillo (Lightweight)
Darren Elkins vs Yadier del Valle (Featherweight)
Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara (Women's Strawweight)
Ty Miller vs Billy Ray Goff (Welterweight)
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld prelims
Steven Asplund vs Guilherme Pat (Heavyweight)
Diyar Nurgozhay vs Bruno Lopes (Light Heavyweight)
Louie Sutherland vs Jose Luiz (Heavyweight)
Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda (Lightweight)
Miles Johns vs Jessie Rosas (Featherweight)
Juliana Miller vs Ravena Oliveira (Women's Flyweight)
Carol Foro vs Giovanna Canuto (Women's Strawweight)
Amanda Lemos: Can the ex-boogeyman turn back the clock at 39?
Amanda Lemos (15-6-1) challenged Zhang Weili for the strawweight title at UFC 292 and went the full 25 minutes with one of the best 115 pounders the sport has ever seen. Now 39 and ranked #11, she’s on the first two-fight skid of her career, dropping decisions to Tatiana Suarez and then Gillian Robertson in March. She operates mostly off her heavy hands and remains one of the hardest punchers in the division, eight knockouts making up more than half of her wins. The concern beyond the age is the grappling, both her submission losses came to dedicated grapplers in Jessica Andrade and Virna Jandiroba.
Alexia Thainara: “Burguesinha” carrying serious momentum into her toughest test
Alexia Thainara (14-1) is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC and has looked excellent doing it. She took her debut on short notice and submitted Molly McCann with a rear naked in London, banking a Performance of the Night bonus and effectively ending the Scouser’s career, then took a decision over the then-ranked Loma Lookboonmee in Perth before avenging the single loss on her record with a dominant decision over Bruna Brasil in March. She fights with an aggression and urgency that stands out at strawweight, mixing leg kicks, 1-2s and lead hooks with clinch trips and ground and pound. She is defensively irresponsible though, fighting with her hands low and dropping them further as the fight goes on.
Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara prediction
Thainara has the grappling advantage, the athleticism and the cardio, but this is the first genuinely high-level opponent she’s faced. McCann was fading and was never top tier, Lookboonmee is a ranged decision striker, and Brasil, while more skilled than the previous two, is inconsistent, doesn’t push a high pace, and doesn’t throw hard enough to pose any real danger. Lemos is a different proposition, the most physical and skilful fighter Thainara will share the cage with, and a former title challenger who used to knock women in this division out cold. That matters because of how open Thainara is. Fighting behind a low guard against someone with Lemos’ style and attributes is risky, and it only gets worse as the rounds go on and those hands drop further.
The path to victory is clear for Thainara. Lemos has decent takedown defence yet has shown poor fight IQ in her grappling decisions before, and when she does establish control she’ll sometimes reach for a submission and allow her opponents to reverse straight back on top. Thainara has the youth and the engine to keep pressing that all night, and a later round submission is live once Lemos starts tiring and starts to compound on bad decisions.
It’s not an easy fight, and seeing how open Thainara is, Lemos could catch her and we get a vintage performance. But the call is the younger woman on the cards.
Prediction: Alexia Thainara to win by decision
