Scouting Report: Amanda Lemos

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Amanda Lemos

Born: May 22, 1987 (Age: 35) in Belem, Brazil
Division: Women’s Strawweight
Height: 5’4”
Reach: 65”
Record: 12-2-1 (6-2 UFC)
Association: Marajo Brothers Team
Stage of Career: Prime/Slightly Post-Prime

Summary: Lemos is one of the most talented fighters in women’s MMA, and it is a shame she did not get into the sport sooner. She is an outstanding striker—one of the best in her division—with fast hands and an array of solid, effective punches. That includes a nice jab, though the best shot is her right cross, a devastating blow that has repeatedly left opponents hurt, knocked down or knocked out. Additionally, Lemos has proven herself as a good grappler who can secure takedowns, unleash damaging ground-and-pound and finish with either a rear-naked choke or a guillotine, though she lacks top control and occasionally makes mistakes. Her cardio is passable, and she is generally a tough opponent. Her one clear weakness comes in the clinch, where, despite nice knee strikes of her own, she is vulnerable to knees and punches.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Well above average, even at 115 pounds.
• Jab: Technical, straight and delivers plenty of impact. She even dropped Livinha Souza with the punch. However, it can be a little telegraphed, with her stomping forward with the strike.
• Cross: One of the best punches in the entire UFC women’s strawweight division. A straight, technical shot with some genuine power. She floored Souza and Mizuki Inoue with the punch and used it to knock out Montserrat Ruiz.
• Left Hook: Rarely throws it.
• Right Hook: Slightly wide and inaccurate, but otherwise a decent, technical punch of above-average speed with which she can catch opponents coming forward.
• Overhand Right: Features a solid, tight arc and proper rotation but lacks power.
• Uppercuts: Almost never throws them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Likes to throw punches in bunches and excels at it.
• Favorite Combinations: The 1-2, which is quite good. She puts the two punches together smoothly and fluidly.
• Leg Kicks: Fast, sudden and hard.
• Body Kicks: Carry the same properties as her leg kicks.
• Head Kicks: Slightly less powerful than the leg and body kicks, but they feature nice flexibility and otherwise similar characteristics.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Lemos has legitimately fast hands and one of the better jabs in the division, along with a solid right hook and overhand right. However, her money punch is the right cross, perhaps the best such punch in the entire division. It has everything one could want from the strike—a fast, powerful, technical blow that has consistently knocked down and knocked out opponents. At greater distances, she has some of the top kicks at 115 pounds, as they are powerful, fast and sudden. She does not focus on a single target, throwing them to the legs, body and head.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Good.
• Technique: She can neutralize grappling attempts at close range but is too often content to sit there with a single overhook.
• Knees: Fast and damaging.
• Elbows: Does not throw them.
• Defense Against Knees and Elbows: A definite weakness. She was absolutely mugged and knocked out by Leslie Smith at 135 pounds, and even against Inoue, she failed to utilize proper defense, choosing instead to simply eat them.

While Lemos is physically strong in the clinch, can defend against most takedown attempts and has powerful, effective knees of her own, it remains an area of concern for her. Why? She is surprisingly vulnerable to an opponent’s strikes there, simply absorbing punches, knees and elbows at close range.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Almost non-existent.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Uses a nice outside trip that took down Smith and Miranda Granger. She also hit a beautiful harai goshi against Inoue to send her flying and opportunistically raised the Japanese standout’s leg in a scramble to take her down.
• Takedown Defense: Neutralized all of Inoue’s attempts in the clinch.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Possesses basic ability to push off with her feet and scramble back to a standing position.
• Submissions: Sneaky and quick in attacking the neck, as shown when she moved on a sudden rear-naked choke against Granger, no novice herself, and successfully hit a tight guillotine on Michelle Waterson-Gomez.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Appears solid from the limited amount of time she has been on her back.
• Top Control: Tends to posture too much and let the opponent up easily.
• Ground-and-Pound: Throws solid punches while utilizing some of her body, including those aimed at the opponent’s midsection and some strong elbows.

Lemos is a skilled grappler. She has at least solid takedown defense, though she has yet to face an opponent with a strong wrestling background. She also has decent takedowns herself in the clinch, drawing from more of a judo/Brazilian jiu-jitsu base. Once on top, Lemos wields vicious ground-and-pound, some of the best in the division. However, she struggles to sustain it, as her top control is lacking. She also possesses dangerous submissions, with a nice rear-naked choke and a tight guillotine she frequently looks to lock in. Defensively, Lemos has some ability to get back up but can occasionally make mistakes grappling, as the Jessica Andrade fight showed. Still, against most opponents, Lemos will have a distinct grappling advantage.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Strong, fluid and dynamic with her movement.
• Cardio: Serviceable. She looked mildly winded against Inoue early in Round 3 of a fight that required slightly above-average energy but never more than that, even by the end of the match.
• Chin: Passes the test at 115 pounds.
• Recuperative Powers: Recovered well from several Angela Hill shots.
• Intelligence: Shows solid improvement between fights and generally makes good decisions, though she does not always manage her energy well and is prone to the occasional grappling mistake.