Iasmin Lucindo is a 23-year-old strawweight prospect from Brazil who’s on the rise after winning four straight UFC fights. One-time title challenger Amanda Lemos sees a bright future for Lucindo, but she plans on playing the spoiler at UFC 313.
The Brazilian fighters collide on the main card portion of Saturday’s pay-per-view show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and Lemos expects her experience to be too much for the young talent.
“Iasmin is coming up strong, she’s young and is on a winning streak, but unfortunately I’ll definitely stop that sequence,” Lemos told MMA Fighting. “Iasmin has a great career ahead of her, she’s only getting started but, like I said, unfortunately she has to fight me and I’ll definitely impose my game.”
Lucindo defeated experienced fighters Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Marina Rodriguez in 2024 to improve to 17-5 in the sport. Competing since her teenage years in Brazil, Lucindo has won four of five since joining the UFC in 2022. However, Lemos believes her 12 octagon appearances, several against top-ranked strawweights, gives her an experience edge that is too much for Lucindo to overcome.
“I believe I’ll be the toughest opponent she’ll ever face in her entire career,” Lemos said. “I’m definitely the toughest fight for her, so I think [experience] will be a factor. I’m feeling super well-prepared, and I’m looking forward to this fight. I want to give my all in there and go back to the old Amanda, the one that went for the finish at all times.”
Lemos scored stoppages in five of her eight UFC wins, finishing the likes of Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Montserrat Ruiz, but admits she has changed a bit since losing a decision to UFC queen Zhang Weili in 2023. She rebounded six months later with a decision victory over Mackenzie Dern, only to tap out against Virna Jandiroba in July of 2024.
“I wasn’t being as aggressive as I was, so that’s definitely something we’ve fixed,” Lemos said. “I’m going forward to finish the fight and don’t leave it to the judges. That Amanda is coming back with everything. I want to impose my game and finish this fight. By knockout, submission, I don’t know, but I’m ready for everything. I have many weapons to show her.”
“Losing is never good, but we learn a lot from it,” she added. “That was the case now. I’ve learned a lot. I went back to the gym and we fixed a lot of the mistakes I’ve made. I’m coming back completely different now.”
The 37-year-old veteran promises “this is going to be a very exciting fight” for as long as it lasts, especially given Lucindo’s aggressive fighting style. Lucindo has won three decisions in the octagon, but scored finishes in 10 of her 13 pre-UFC bouts.
“Iasmin is a brawler, she likes to stand and fight, but also take it to the ground,” Lemos said. “She takes it to the ground if she feels threatened on the feet, so we have all our weapons sharp to impose my game and come out victorious.”
