Zhang Weili maintained her place atop the strawweight division with a masterful performance against Amanda Lemos.
Over 25 minutes, Weili (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) proved too much for the challenger Lemos (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) to handle. The women’s strawweight title bout was the UFC 292 co-main event at TD Garden in Boston. When it was all said and done, the dominant display on the feet and on the mat from Weili resulted in scores of 50-43, 50-44 and 49-45.
There was a big moment early as Weili caught the first kick attempt from Lemos, and put the challenger on her back. Weili focused on maintaining top control initially, but found space for punches and short elbows after Lemos scooted over to the cage. Lemos got to a seated position and ate a few more strikes.
