UFC strawweight Amanda Lemos says it has been hard to find an opponent willing to take her on.
Rising UFC strawweight Amanda Lemos is calling out her division, but cannot find an opponent. Following her 35-second TKO win over Montserrat Ruiz in her last outing, the Brazilian has been having a hard time finding another woman willing to accept the challenge.
In an interview with Combate, Lemos explained that her heavy hands might be a reason why some athletes will not take her. Although she is on a four-fight winning streak, Amanda says some known strawweights directly refused to fight her, namely Tecia Torres and Yan Xiaonan. Nonetheless, the Brazilian has another name in mind who has not turned her down yet: Nina Nunes.
“I believe so (I have the heaviest hands in the division). Some girls have volume, but I think I have the heaviest hands in the division,” Lemos said.
“For my next step, I’d like to face someone in the top 10 or in the top 5 again.” Amanda continued. “I’ve been asking and waiting for a response. I’m here to stay. I’ve been delivering and showing why I deserve to be among the best. That’s what I train for every single day. I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve been asking for fights but they won’t give it to me. Tecia Torres turned me down last year. Now Yan Xiaonan didn’t want me either.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been calling them out, but it seems they don’t want to (fight me). There’s someone who hasn’t turned me down yet who I think could make for a good fight, that’s Nina Nunes. I think it would be an interesting fight for the fans. Let’s see what happens.”
Currently on a four-fight winning streak, Lemos (10-1-1) scored wins over Ruiz, Livia Souza, Mizuki Inoue and Miranda Granger in her most recent outings, with three of those wins being finishes. The 34-year-old’s sole loss happened in July 2017, when she got TKO’d by Leslie Smith in her Octagon debut.