Amanda Lemos showed off her excellent striking skills and submission defense over 15 minutes with Mackenzie Dern.
The women’s strawweight bout closed out the UFC 298 preliminary card at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and it was an entertaining battle with both women having their moments. When it was all said and done, Lemos (14-3-1 MMA, 8-3 UFC) racked up unanimous scores of 29-28 from each judge, turning away damaged Dern (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC).
Lemos set the tone early with hard kicks, mixing them to the legs and the body. Swelling on Dern’s left lower left leg became very apparent early into the first round. Midway through the frame before her leg could become more of a liability, Dern completed a nice takedown to bring the fight where she’s best. On the mat, Dern worked to transition and hunt for submissions while landing a few strikes.
According to commentator Joe Rogan, Dern’s corner did not apply ice to Dern’s left shin during the break between rounds.
In Round 2, Lemos continued to have success in space, darting in and out with sharp striking. Hard, accurate punches put Dern in a bad spot, causing her to fall to the canvas while covering her face. Referee Mike Beltran nearly stopped the fight, but opted to let the action continue. Lemos followed the bloodied Dern to the canvas, where the action slowed. But when they returned to standing position, Lemos returned to digging in hard leg kicks, and popping fast punches.
However, Dern wasn’t deterred and kept charging forward. A takedown attempt was reversed, but Dern hit a sweep to take top position to close out the final seconds of the round.
The two fighters hugged before getting into the thick of the last round. Dern then tagged Lemos with a big right hand, but Lemos scored a takedown in response. Dern started working for a leg lock from the bottom, eventually using the hold to claim top position. After giving up some control time, Lemos was able to scramble back to the top and land a couple of punches before the final horn.
With all three judges seeing the fight in her favor, Lemos, 36, returns to the win column with a victory over a short-notice replacement. Lemos was originally scheduled to face Tatiana Suarez, who had to pull out due to injury.
Dern, 30, stepped up and fought with one of her biggest supporters Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg watching closely from cageside, but walked away with her second consecutive defeat.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 298 results include:
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Amanda Lemos def. Mackenzie Dern via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa via TKO (leg kicks, punches) – Round 2, 1:14
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Rinya Nakamura def. Carlos Vera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Zhang Mingyang def. Brendson Ribeiro via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:41
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Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:18
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Oban Elliott def. Val Woodburn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Miranda Maverick def. Andrea Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
