Former LFA strawweight champion Jaqueline Amorim is not in a hurry to add another belt to her collection in the UFC; however, that doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s shying away from bigger challenges.<\/p>\n
Amorim is set to face ex-DEEP titleholder Mizuki Inoue at UFC 321, which goes down Saturday in Abu Dhabi, and likes the slow build the UFC is giving her. Since losing her octagon debut to Sam Hughes in April 2023, Amorim snatched four finishes in a row by beating Montserrat Conejo, Cory McKenna, Vanessa Demopoulos and Polyana Viana.<\/p>\n
Battling Inoue in Abu Dhabi feels like the perfect step before challenging ranked foes, Amorim told MMA Fighting, because \u201cI\u2019m still new to the UFC.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI joined the organization with just six fights and this is a really good matchup before facing someone ranked because my opponent is very experienced,\u201d she continued. \u201cIf I win this fight, I think the next one will definitely be against someone in the rankings. But I want to get there feeling prepared. I don\u2019t want to reach the rankings and not be ready, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
UFC 321 features a rematch between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern for the vacant 115-pound title. Amorim, a jiu-jitsu veteran just like the two co-headliners, feels happy to see her fellow grapplers clash for UFC glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really happy when they announced that title fight,\u201d Amorim said. \u201cTwo girls who are both amazing grapplers. I like both of them a lot. I\u2019ve always admired them. I watched them fighting in the UFC before I had even started MMA. For us grapplers, it\u2019s great to see two women like that. I believe they\u2019ll put on a great fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMackenzie has shown huge improvement, both in her striking and in how she\u2019s adapted her jiu-jitsu for MMA,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut I think this might be a different kind of fight. Based on Virna\u2019s recent wins, I believe she\u2019ll have the advantage. I think Virna has evolved more for MMA. I\u2019d put my money on Virna if I had to bet, but I like both of them so I\u2019ll be happy with whoever wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Competing in Abu Dhabi is nothing new to Amorim, who travelled to the United Arab Emirates to make a name for herself in the grappling world by winning the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro title in 2014 as a purple belt. Back to the U.A.E. 11 years later, she\u2019s \u201csuper excited\u201d to perform in MMA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very special place for me,\u201d Amorim said. \u201cThe first time I came here was in 2011. It was my first international trip, I didn\u2019t speak English, and I was a blue belt. Coming back now to fight in the UFC, the biggest event in the world, is really rewarding. Back then, when I was a blue belt, it was all just a dream. Now that it\u2019s all happening, I\u2019m really happy, and I hope to perform my best on Saturday for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mizuki has never been submitted in MMA and has grappled her way to winning most of her MMA fights. Amorim knows the Japanese fighter is \u201cmuch more experienced fighter than I am,\u201d but still plans on making her tap out Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s never been submitted, so maybe this will be the first time \u2014 because I\u2019m going in there to get the finish,\u201d Amorim said. \u201cMy goal every time I step into the octagon is to show my jiu-jitsu. It actually motivates me even more to go in there and get the submission. \u2026 She\u2019s been out for two years, so I don\u2019t know how she\u2019ll come back, but based on her last fight, I think her style matches up well with mine. Maybe she\u2019ll bring something different for this fight, but I\u2019m prepared for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMizuki fought in Invicta, and I think she even fought Virna there for the title,\u201d she added. \u201cShe\u2019s faced several girls who are now in the UFC, even former champions. I believe she\u2019s a very good fighter with solid boxing, good footwork, and a jiu-jitsu background too. At this point in my career, she\u2019s a great challenge for me because she\u2019s good both standing and on the ground, which will make it a bit tougher than my recent fights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former LFA strawweight champion Jaqueline Amorim is not in a hurry to add another belt to her collection…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,701,638,82,640,702],"class_list":{"0":"post-238400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-latest-news","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-ufc","15":"tag-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}