Strawweight Amanda Lemos scored a fifth straight victory in the UFC when she defeated American Angela Hill in Las Vegas this Sunday. Brazil’s victory was decided by a divided decision of the judges after a very balanced fight, facing an opponent who offered many difficulties throughout the fight.
Lemos was cornered in the first moments and suffered a left blow to the head, but fought back with a graceful front kick that sent Hill to the canvas, where she could not maintain the advantage. When both were back on their feet, the Brazilian took a right-handed cross.
The second round had a less rapid pace, with signs of fatigue on both sides. Anyway, Lemos had his good moments, a small right cross in the opponent’s face. The North American managed to score in the last second without so much accuracy after a few blows.
According to the judges’ assessment, the balance continued into the third round, which began with a new frontal kick to Hill’s head, followed by an intense exchange of standing strikes, leading to more points for the Brazilian. Thus, Amanda Nunes came out of the octagon as the winner.
Another Brazilian who had a good night was Melissa Gatto, who defeated American Cesara Eubanks in flyweight by technical knockout. Starting the fight at a loss, she managed to balance the contention in the second round, to guarantee victory, before kicking one in Eubanks’ groin 45 seconds into the third. Also representatives of Brazil, Rafael Asuncao and Carlos Diego Ferreira were eliminated by Ricky Simone and Mateusz Gamarot, respectively.
Main fight – In the big highlight of the day, American Derrick Lewis fought against his compatriot Chris Doukas, then the owner of a series of four victories, and enforced a knockout at 3:26 of the first round. With this, he distinguished himself in the UFC with a record of 13 knockouts, beating Vitor Belfort and Matt Brown of Brazil from the United States, both of whom made 12 knockouts in their careers.
The beginning of the battle was weak, as the fighters were hesitant. Lewis was betting on straights and crosses to keep Doukas from passing. However, when he advanced, he had to end the fight, circling his opponent across the grid, before nearly knocking him unconscious with right and left blows. After securing a win and a knockout record, Lewis scoffed at a potential title shot.
“If you want me to fight for the belt, let me fight for three rounds. I can’t prepare myself for round five. If you want someone to fight five rounds, don’t even call me. I I am the first clean fighter to lead the UFC knockout list, and now I want to rest. I will not watch the title dispute, because I will be on vacation in Jamaica with my wife,” he commented.
