UFC strawweight contender [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag] sees a new champion soon being crowned in her division.
Dern believes that champion Zhang Weili will lose her belt when she squares off against challenger [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston. Not only does Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) see Weili losing, but she also sees her getting stopped.
“I think Amanda Lemos is going to knock her out,” Dern told Michael Bisping in a recent interview. “Amanda Lemos is a hard fight. She’s probably one of the last persons on my list that I want to fight right now.”
Dern, who’s coming off a unanimous decision win over veteran Angela Hill, knows Weili is a tough adversary and currently the world’s best at 115 pounds. But she believes Lemos is bound to catch her in 25 minutes of fighting.
“From what I saw with Rose (Namajunas) catching her (Weili) on the chin with that kick and was just kind of like ‘boom,’ on the spot, precise, I can see Amanda Lemos like hanging on,” Dern explained. “She’s hard to knock out, she has a good base. I don’t see Weili like Jessica Andrade with big biceps and that style to submit her, even though I know Zhang has a ground game. I think in 25 minutes, she can land a shot that will knock her out.”
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