The race to become the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next No. 1 contender at 115 pounds features Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos in prominent positions—at least for the time being.
As Rodriguez and Lemos make final preparations for their forthcoming five-round duel in the Nevada desert, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
35: Years of age for Rodriguez, who was born in Bage, Brazil, on April 29, 1987.
6: Rodriguez victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 38% of her career total (16). Her list of victims includes Amanda Ribas, Maria Oliveira and Silvania Monteiro. Rodriguez holds one other victory by submission (6%)—she turned away Vanessa Guimaraes with a triangle choke under the Aspera Fighting Championship banner in 2016—and nine more by decision (56%).
144: Significant strikes landed by Rodriguez across the five rounds of her unanimous decision over 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Mackenzie Dern in the UFC Fight Night 194 headliner on Oct. 9, 2021. It established a personal high-water mark for the Marcio Malko protégé.
44: Rounds completed by Rodriguez as a professional mixed martial artist. She has gone the distance on 12 different occasions and carries a 9-1-2 record in those bouts.
70: Combined wins between the nine women—Oliveira, Monteiro, Caroline Silva (twice), Natalia Silva, Amanda Torres, Samara Santos Cunha, Paula Vieira da Silva, Vanessa Guimaraes and Marcia Oliveira—Rodriguez defeated prior to joining the UFC roster. They sport a .596 cumulative winning percentage at 70-47-2.
35: Years of age for Lemos, who was born on May 22, 1987 in Belem, Brazil.
3: Lemos wins by submission, accounting for 25% of her career total (12). Her methods of choice: two guillotine chokes and one rear-naked choke. Lemos owns seven other wins by knockout or technical knockout (58%) and two more by decision (17%).
8: First-round finishes on the Lemos resume, with three of them having taken place inside the Octagon. She put Miranda Granger to sleep with a rear-naked choke in 3:43 at UFC Fight Night 165 on Dec. 21, 2019, punched out Livinha Souza in 3:29 at UFC 259 on March 6, 2021 and buried Montserrat Ruiz with punches in 35 seconds at UFC on ESPN 26 on July 17, 2021.
5: Knockdowns landed by Lemos as a UFC women’s strawweight, placing her first on the promotion’s all-time list at 115 pounds. She has floored Souza (twice), Ruiz, Angela Hill and Mizuki Inoue during her nine UFC assignments.
.500: Cumulative winning percentage between the six women—Mayra Cantuaria Rodrigues, Carolina Cunha, Carol Abdon, Debora Dias Nascimento, Alenice Correa Costa and Laura Falcao—Lemos beat prior to signing with the UFC. They boast a combined record of 14-14-1.