The co-main event at UFC 292 featured a strawweight title fight between champion Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos. Both fighters were coming off a win and their fight had the crowd roaring. Weili simply displayed why she’s the champion and put on a clinical performance through the whole five rounds.
Lemos on the other hand absorbed several strikes throughout the fight but managed to get a few takedowns on the champion. Yet, Amanda barely landed a strike on Zhang Weili in the first round. While Lemos took the lead and landed a low kick first, it was quickly caught by Weili as she got a takedown.
PURE DOMINATION..🧨🔥
LEMOS NEEDS TO FIRE HER ENTIRE CORNER “you have control of this fight” DAWG you’re down 290 strikes to 20 strikes, What the fuck is they watching😭 pic.twitter.com/G5l4pdQWiy
— LxckTV (@LxckTV) August 20, 2023
Lemos stayed tight down there as Weili landed a couple of significant ground strikes. While the Brazilian fighter tried to get back in control, she managed to land only one significant strike through the whole round.
The number of strikes landed by Lemos through the first round was less than what Jose Aldo landed against Conor McGregor in 13 secs. Weili simply outscored her opponent in every aspect by getting 163 significant strikes and controlling Lemos the whole fight.
Despite the beating, Amanda managed to stay conscious and barely made it through the rounds. However, the difference in strikes was simply too big. Lemos landed only one strike in the final round as well and the difference in strikes went on increasing as the rounds progressed.
Zhang Weili vs Amanda Lemos fight breakdown
While the main event between Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling had everyone astonished, the co-main event was nothing short of a spectacle. Zhang Weili simply dominated her opponent Amanda Lemos throughout the whole fight. The champion managed to throw a total of 358 strikes of which 296 managed to land on Lemos.
Meanwhile, Amanda only snuck in 68 total strikes and had a total control time of only 34 seconds. The difference between strikes thrown created a record for the largest total strike differential in Women’s UFC history. While Amanda managed to get Weili by the neck in the first round, she was not able to secure the win.
#ANDSTILL THE STRAWWEIGHT QUEEN 👑
Zhang Weili defeats Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision in our #UFC292 co-main!
[ B2YB @DrinkMonaco ] pic.twitter.com/vSVdDy0UWI
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
The champion displayed her craftiness and got out of the choke to batter Amanda. Apart from the significant strikes, Weili attempted 7 takedowns out of which 6 did their job. Meanwhile, Lemos did not bother with a takedown and as such was controlled most of the time.
By the end of round five, Weili had a total of 296 strikes and 163 significant strikes with a control time of over 16 minutes. Meanwhile, Amanda only landed 29 strikes and 24 significant strikes with just over 30 seconds of ground control.
The difference in performance was clear as day and Zhang won the fight by a huge unanimous decision. The judges scored the contest 43-50, 44-50, and 45-49 for Weili Zhang to retain her strawweight championship. What are your thoughts on the co-main event at UFC 292? Let us know in the comments below.