Amanda Lemos won't be fighting Virna Jandiroba for very long in a scheduled 25-minute main event bout just a few days from now.
On Saturday, at UFC on ESPN 60 (ESPN, ESPN+) from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, former title challenger Lemos (14-3-1 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will face Jandiroba (20-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a top 10 strawweight bout.
At this point, Lemos is no stranger to the big UFC stage, appearing in her third UFC main event after winning a unanimous decision over Mackenzie Dern in February at UFC 298. The win marked her return to a winning record after a heartbreaking unanimous decision loss to Zhang Weili in her first gold medal fight.
Whether it's a qualifying bout, a main event or a title fight, it makes no difference to Lemos.
“I approach every fight the same,” Lemos told MMA Junkie Radio through a translator. “It doesn't matter if it's the first or second fight on the card, main or main. I approach every fight the same. Everything is important to me. This is my life. This is my livelihood, this is my bread and butter. It doesn't matter where the fight is placed. I always go in there looking to win and with the same training level. For me, it's just a different fight in that sense.”
The 37-year-old Lemos is currently ranked No. 7 in the latest USA Today Sports/MMA Junkie women's strawweight rankings, with Jandiroba just behind her at No. 1.
While this fight is unlikely to put her back in the running for another title shot, a big win, especially a big stoppage win, would certainly be a solid step in that direction, and she'll be looking to get an early win against Jandiroba on Saturday.
“We're going to fight to finish the match,” Lemos said. “Obviously, we're going to be cautious because you never know what's going to happen, but we're going to fight from the start to finish the match.”
Check out Lemos' full pre-match interview in the video above.
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC on ESPN 60 event hub.
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