UFC Fight Night 214 was headlined by a possible No. 1 contender’s showdown for the women's strawweight crown between Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Lemos entered the cage at an enviable 6-1 at 115 pounds—a run that included a close decision over Angela Hill and a finish of Michelle Waterson-Gomez, with the only blemish resulting in a submission loss to former champion Jessica Andrade. She has established herself as one of the most talented female fighters in the sport, with outstanding striking to go along with a highly skilled offensive Brazilian jiu-jitsu game. Rodriguez, meanwhile, stepped into the Octagon with a 6-1-2 mark in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, having rattled off four wins in a row since she suffered her only career setback in a close split decision defeat to current 115-pound titleholder Carla Esparza. All four of those victories were against top contenders: She knocked out Amanda Ribas and decisioned Waterson-Gomez, Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan.
In their high-stakes encounter, Rodriguez convincingly won the first round on the feet before Lemos took the second with superior grappling. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Lemos scored a fantastic knockout in Round 3. It was the first time Rodriguez had ever looked hurt, much less been finished.
In the welterweight co-main event, longtime Top 15 mainstay Neil Magny battled Daniel Rodriguez at 170 pounds. Rodriguez sported a glossy 7-1 record in the UFC ahead of the bout, though many observers felt he lost his most recent appearance against Jingliang Li. In a competitive battle where each man appeared to bank a round entering the third, Magny made the scorecards irrelevant by finishing “D-Rod” with a brabo choke late in Round 3.
In the aftermath of UFC Fight Night “Rodriguez vs. Lemos,” here are three matches that ought to be made:
Amanda Lemos vs. Carla Esparza-Weili Zhang winner: This is an obvious pick, as the winner of the UFC Fight Night 214 main event is absolutely deserving of a crack at the title. Either matchup will provide excitement. Lemos can strike and grapple at a high level, so we will not have to worry about getting the kind of stalemate we saw in the Esparza-Rose Namajunas rematch, where each woman held a distinct advantage in one phase of combat and proceeded with an overabundance of caution as a result.
Marina Rodriguez vs. Rose Namajunas: Rodriguez may have suffered her first decisive defeat in MMA, but she remains a top contender and figures to be in position to challenge for the title with another win or two. A victory over Namajunas could certainly accelerate those plans. On the other side, it would be a worthwhile opportunity for “Thug Rose” to build herself back up after an anemic showing against Esparza. Fans would be the true beneficiaries, as Rodriguez and Namajunas rank among the best strikers in the division and would likely have no problems trading heavy leather.
Neil Magny vs. Vicente Luque: At 35 years of age and with multiple losses to the welterweight division’s elite, it seems unlikely that Magny can shift from high-level gatekeeper to true contender at this stage of his career. However, a fight against the ninth-ranked Luque would almost guarantee entertainment. Luque finds himself in a bit of a tailspin after losing back-to-back bouts in one-sided fashion, but he remains a potent striker and grappler. A confrontation with Magny would result in exciting exchanges in multiple phases and perhaps provide the winner with a path to one last run at the top of the division.