UFC books Nina Nunes vs. Amanda Lemos for December 18
Top strawweights are set to clash at the end of the year.
Nina Nunes (née Ansaroff) is looking to rebound back into the win column after two-straight losses. According to Combate’s Raphael Marinho she’ll get her chance to that on December 18. However, she’ll need to get through one of the division’s fastest rising prospects to do so.
UFC acertou Nina Nunes x Amanda Lemos para evento do dia 18 de dezembro. #feedmma
— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) August 19, 2021
Per Marinho Nunes is set to face Amanda Lemos. Lemos is a former Jungle Fight champion who joined the UFC in 2017. Her debut fight was a short notice appearance against Leslie Smith in the bantamweight division. Lemos was trounced by Smith (who is now a featherweight), losing by TKO in the second round.
Lemos took a few years off and then returned as a strawweight at 2019’s UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie in Busan. There she choked out Miranda Granger with a rear naked choke.
In 2020 she secured a win over Mizuki Inoue by unanimous decision. This year she has impressed wit back-to-back first TKO victories, taking her UFC record to 4-1 (10-1-1 overall). The first of those wins was versus Livia Renata Souza at UFC 259 in March. The second was over Montserrat Ruiz in July.
Nunes has been with the UFC since 2014. Her first two fights with the promotion were unanimous decision losses; one to Juliana Lima and one to Justine Kish.
After those defeats she won four straight over a span of three years. Those victories came over Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger, Angela Hill, Randa Markos and Claudia Gadelha. In 2019 she was defeated by Tatiana Suarez. Last time out, at UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland in April, she was submitted by Mackenzie Dern.
Nunes vs. Lemos is the only match-up currently slated for the UFC’s December 18 show. That show’s venue is yet to be announced.