- Marina Rodriguez has opened as the -145 betting favorite against Amanda Lemos (+125).
- Rodriguez has won four in a row while Lemos is 6-1 in her last seven UFC bouts.
- The two Top 10 women’s strawweight have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 280 on October 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The UFC 280 fight card got even more stacked with the addition of a Top 10 women’s strawweight matchup.
According to a report from the MMA website Combate, no. 3 Marina Rodriguez and no. 8 Amanda Lemos have verbally agreed to fight at the October 22 event which will be held at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.
Marina Rodriguez Bets Yan Xiaonan via Split Decision
#UFC272 results: Marina Rodriguez (@wmmarz) def. Yan Xiaonan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Full results: https://t.co/GruVtFdR5L pic.twitter.com/2u16NUudOy
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 6, 2022
Rodriguez has won four in a row since losing to current women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza at UFC Fight Island 3 last July 26, 2020. In her most recent Octagon appearance, the 35-year-old took a close split decision against Yan Xiaonan at UFC 272 just last March. Prior to that, Rodriguez picked up wins over Amanda Ribas, Michelle Waterson, and Mackenzie Dern.
An undefeated fighter at Brazil’s regional circuits, Rodriguez joined the Contender Series Brazil 2 show and picked up a TKO win over Maria de Oliveira Neta to earn a UFC contract. Rodriguez went undefeated in her first four UFC assignments but two ended in a draw. Overall, the Rio Grande do Sul native has a record of 16-1 with six knockouts and one win via submission.
Rodriguez opened as the slight -145 betting favorite against Lemos. This marks the second consecutive bout where she has opened at minus money odds. Despite winning her last four bouts, Rodriguez was the underdog twice during that span. In her only career loss against Carla Esparza, Rodriguez opened at -140 odds and even closed as a bigger -210 betting favorite.
Amanda Lemos Taps Out Michelle Waterson
UFC Long Island video: Amanda Lemos taps out Michelle Waterson with nasty guillotine choke (@DamonMartin) https://t.co/hkBKilNveg pic.twitter.com/KnUzELNNET
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 16, 2022
Meanwhile, Lemos returned to the winning column after tapping out Michelle Waterson at UFC in a Performance of the Night winning effort at ABC 3 just last July 16th. The victory came one bout after Lemos was also submitted by Jessica Andrade at the main event of UFC Vegas 52 for her first taste of defeat since 2017.
The 35-year-old from Belem, Brazil is a former Jungle Fight women’s bantamweight champion who joined the UFC in 2017 after two successful title defenses. Lemos lost via TKO to Leslie Smith in her UFC debut but she racked up five consecutive wins, three via stoppage before losing to Andrade. Overall, Lemos is 12-2 with seven knockouts and three submission victories.
Lemos opened as the slight +125 betting underdog against Rodriguez. However, having the plus money sign written next to her name isn’t new for Lemos who has been the betting underdog in five out of her first eight UFC bouts. She is 3-2 as a betting underdog in the UFC with wins against Miranda Granger, Mizuki Inoue, and Livinha Souza.
