Alexia Thainara absorbed the hardest shot of her UFC run and still left UFC Vegas 120 with the biggest win of her career.
Thainara defeated former title challenger Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision at Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday. The judges scored the all-Brazilian strawweight fight 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Alexia Thainara moves to 4-0 in the UFC after defeating Amanda Lemos.
Lemos Lands The Biggest Shot, Thainara Wins The Larger Fight
Thainara did not rely on one phase. She pressured Lemos in the striking exchanges, hurt her at different points and returned to the grappling that carried her through her first three UFC appearances.
Lemos created the fight’s sharpest moment in Round 2. Her right hand caught Thainara clean and left the rising contender on unstable legs. Thainara recovered without giving away control of the contest, then continued making Lemos solve both her pace and positional changes.
Alexia Thainara earns a unanimous decision over Amanda Lemos at UFC Vegas 120.
All three judges favored Thainara. Two awarded her two rounds, while the 30-27 card gave her every frame. The decision moved her to 15-1 overall, extended her winning streak to 13 fights and made her 4-0 in the UFC.
Thainara Takes Lemos’ Place In The Top-10 Conversation
Thainara entered ranked No. 12 and Lemos at No. 8. Beating a former title challenger gives Thainara the strongest result of her career and should place her inside the top 10 when the rankings are updated.
Official scorecards: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Alexia Thainara.
The victory also adds a new layer to Thainara’s record. Eight of her 15 wins have come by submission, but she has now won three consecutive UFC fights by decision after submitting Molly McCann in her Octagon debut. Her run at 115 pounds now belongs beside other recent climbers such as Fatima Kline, who entered the top-10 discussion in July.
Lemos falls to 15-6-1. The 39-year-old owns eight knockout wins and three submissions, but the defeat is her third straight decision loss after Gillian Robertson and Tatiana Suarez.
Lemos previously challenged Zhang Weili for the championship at UFC 292, where Zhang retained the title by unanimous decision. Thainara has now used Lemos’ experience and ranking as the bridge from prospect to contender.
