Any one of the fights booked thus far for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s October return
to “Fight Island” could headline an event.
The
UFC 280 event on Oct. 22 continues to swell with talent and
scintillating, as
Combate reported on Thursday that a likely strawweight title
eliminator will join its billing. Marina
Rodriguez (16-1-2) will be taking on Amanda
Lemos (12-2-1) in a pivotal 115-pound clash, and the victor
should almost certainly crack into the title picture. The UFC’s
broadcast partner of ESPN
confirmed this booking shortly after its announcement on
Thursday.
Advertisement
Rodriguez has rebounded from her first professional defeat – a
split decision loss to former and future champ Carla
Esparza in 2020 – in resounding fashion, with four straight
victories on her ledger. A knockout of Amanda
Ribas springboarded her into a main event matchup with Michelle
Waterson Gomez, and she passes that test with flying colors to move
on to another Fight Night headliner. In this Oct. 2021 showdown
with Mackenzie
Dern, she survived the worse of the grappling to take home a
clear-cut decision. Since then, the Brazilian skated by a
three-rounder with Xiaonan Yan
where
scoring media members were perfectly split as its winner.
“Amandinha” has looked fearsome since her shift down to 115 pounds,
as the former bantamweight joined the division’s ranks in 2019.
Three finishes in five triumphs scored her a prime main event spot
against ex-champion Jessica
Andrade, only for Lemos to suffer her first submission defeat.
The standing arm-triangle choke from Andrade snapped the win
streak, but Lemos got back on track by tapping Waterson-Gomez with
a nasty guillotine choke in July. The Marajo Brothers Team
representative celebrates a solid finish rate of 83%, which is far
higher than her opponent’s of 44%.
UFC 280 will go down at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 22. The “Fight Island” show
will be highlighted by a pair of championship bouts, with the main
attraction for the vacant lightweight throne between Charles
Oliveira and Islam
Makhachev. The co-headliner sees Aljamain
Sterling put his belt up against ex-divisional king T.J.
Dillashaw. It is unclear how the UFC will structure the
remainder of the main card, with three other major matchups on the
billing thus far: Beneil
Dariush vs. Mateusz
Gamrot at lightweight, Belal
Muhammad vs. Sean Brady
in the welterweight division and former champ Petr Yan
taking on Sean
O’Malley at 135 pounds.