Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos originally were supposed to fight Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
They were rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 214 next month in Las Vegas, and now it appears extra exposure will be their reward for waiting.
The women’s strawweight fight between Brazilians Rodriguez (16-1-2 MMA, 6-1-2 UFC) and Lemos (12-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) now will be that card’s main event Nov. 5 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. UFC officials made the announcement during the UFC 280 broadcast.
The card’s original headliner was to be between Bryce Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Movsar Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) until Evloev pulled out with an injury. And though Mitchell had other fighters who lobbied for the fight, he’ll instead have to wait to fight another day.
Rodriguez has won four straight fights. Her current run started with a bonus-winning knockout of Amanda Ribbas in early 2021. She followed that up with decision wins over Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Mackenzie Dern later that year. In March, she took a split decision from Yan Xiaonan.
Lemos had a five-fight winning streak snapped by Jessica Andrade in April, but rebounded in July with a second-round submission of Waterson-Gomez at UFC on ABC 3. Prior to the Andrade loss, her five-fight run included a Fight of the Night win over Angela Hill in late 2021.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 214 lineup now includes:
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Lemos
- Neil Magny vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Jailton Almeida vs. Maxim Grishin
- Mario Bautista vs. Benito Lopez
- Nate Maness vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Ramona Pascual vs. Tamires Vidal
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Polyana Viana
- Johnny Munoz vs. Liudvik Sholinian
- Carlos Candelario vs. Jake Hadley
- Miranda Maverick vs. Shanna Young
- Josh Parisian vs. Chase Sherman
- Darrick Minner vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
- Grant Dawson vs. Mark Madsen
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
