Preview:

Virna Jandiroba and Amanda Lemos, two talented ladies in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight division, will square off this Saturday, July 20, 2024, at UFC Vegas 94 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event features a battle between Para, Brazil’s Lemos, and Feira de Santano, Bahia, Brazil’s Jandiroba. Featherweights Steve Garcia of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Seungwoo Choi of Seoul, Korea, will square off in the co-main event. Jandiroba has defeated strong opponents three times in a row to secure a spot in the Top Five. She hasn’t lost since 2021, so maybe Jandiroba 2.0 poses a real danger to the title? Now is her chance to close that deal, since at 125 pounds, Lemos is as deadly as they come. In August 2023, Zhang Weili proved to be too strong for the Brazilian; nonetheless, Lemos’ strength and quickness gave her a considerable lead over most of her division.

Jandiroba is an outstanding black belt in jiu-jitsu. Although she has made some progress in her boxing over the years, taking down opponents and moving forward to get into submission will always be her strong suit. The placement of the cage matters. Jandiroba will be at a disadvantage in speed in the open and may struggle with timing her shots. But she’s really good in chain wrestling if she can get Lemos to move near the fence with a few well-placed jabs. If the match goes longer and gets more technical, Jandiroba can probably drag her opponent to the ground. Once in control of the battle, Jandiroba can dominate. Jandiroba needs to learn from the past opponent Mackenzie Dern’s strategy if the takedown doesn’t happen. Jumping guard or diving for leg locks is a better play than standing there and waiting to be hammered since she isn’t outlasting Lemos in a fight.

To be honest, Lemos’s speed and strength for his age—37—are quite astounding. She has been a major player in the division ever since she fell to strawweight because she can truly harm her opponents and they are unable to worry her. It’s practically unjust! Lemos performed admirably in her previous fight, carefully dismantling Mackenzie Dern. She did not simply charge the grappler and start throwing bombs, which may have resulted in easy takedowns. Rather, she severed Dern’s leading leg, making her irrational and furious before she began to cry out and land powerful blows. It functioned flawlessly back then, and it ought to function flawlessly now! Lemos can land first thanks to her agility and quickness, and it won’t take many well-placed kicks to seriously restrict Jandiroba’s range of motion. After that, the disparity in athletic ability will only get bigger, leaving Lemos in a vulnerable position.

Match Card:

Prelims – 5 PM ET

• Bantamweight Brian Kelleher vs. Cody Gibson
• Women’s Flyweight Miranda Maverick vs. Dione Barbosa
• Lightweight Loik Radzhabov vs. Trey Ogden
• Women’s Flyweight Luana Carolina vs. Lucie Pudilová
• Heavyweight Mohammed Usman vs. Thomas Petersen

Main Card –8 PM ET

• Women’s Strawweight Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Featherweight Steve Garcia vs. Choi Seung-woo
• Lightweight Kurt Holobaugh vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky
• Flyweight Cody Durden vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
• Featherweight Choi Doo-ho vs. Bill Algeo
• Featherweight Lee Jeong-Yeong vs. Hyder Amil

EVENT INFO :

• Date: July 20, 2024
• Location: UFC APEX In Las Vegas, Nevada
• Start Time: Prelims: 5:00 PM EST, Main Card: 8:00 PM EST