Athletes
Jaqueline Amorim | Finally Feeling Comfortable
Surging Strawweight Discusses Winning Streak, Upward Ambitions Ahead Of UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane
Jaqueline Amorim is just now starting to feel truly comfortable inside the UFC Octagon, which should be a scary thought for everyone else in the strawweight division, as the Brazilian has been on a tear over her last four fights.
“It’s funny: I was talking to my husband and my friends about this because they asked me ‘How do you feel in the UFC? Do you feel you’re ready to be out there? Fight the best? Fight ranked fighters?’ and I was like, ‘To be honest, I just feel ready now, after my last fight,’” began Amorim, who returns to competition this weekend at UFC 321 against Mizuki. “My debut, second fight, third fight, I was getting comfortable, but I knew I needed to improve more because I just have five years in MMA.
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“Once you get to the UFC, I don’t think you have the longest time to figure out how to get better, because as you win, they wanna push you up. After my last one, I feel more ready; I can finally understand, I’m getting comfortable.
“When I came back from that fight, that’s when I started to feel good about my game and just wanted to make it sharper.”
Jaqueline Amorim Snatches Another Submission Win | UFC Kansas City
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Jaqueline Amorim Snatches Another Submission Win | UFC Kansas City
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That last fight, which took place in April against Polyana Viana, ended with Amorim securing a second-round submission win by rear-naked choke; it was her fourth straight victory and fourth consecutive finish since dropping her promotional debut to Sam Hughes back at UFC 287.
Prior to that, the 30-year-old jiu-jitsu standout had made an unbeaten march through the regional ranks, racking up six straight stoppage wins, never once leaving the first round. Things felt easy, came to her easily, and it wasn’t until she started quickly, but faltered in the back half of her eventual loss to Hughes that Amorim had the realization that eventually hits every high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner that transitions into the Octagon: at the highest level, competition-style jiu-jitsu isn’t going to cut it.
READ: Preview Every Fight At UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane
“One thing that changed for me was understanding that my jiu-jitsu for MMA had to be different,” began Amorim, who carries a 10-1 record and a 100-percent finishing rate into Saturday’s UFC 321 opener in Abu Dhabi. “I’m a martial artist now, so I have to change and not just think I’m gonna go in there and use my jiu-jitsu.
“After my debut when I lost, I was like, ‘I think I have to do some changes;’ even my jiu-jitsu wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I had to put the striking and the wrestling together with the jiuj-tsu for MMA, because it’s different when you do grappling for jiu-jitsu and for MMA. I think once I understood that, everything changed for me.”
Her thoughts echo those expressed just a couple of weeks ago by Bia Mesquita, the 10-time IBJJF world champion who made her UFC debut in Rio de Janeiro, where she secured a second-round submission win over Irina Alekseeva.
Despite her vast collection of accolades on the mats and legitimately world-class grappling acumen, Mesquita also expressed just how much she’s needed to change her approach since transitioning into MMA, trading her pressure and passing-heavy style for one geared more toward getting to positions where she can look to do damage and create openings for herself.
WATCH: UFC 321 Countdown
Amorim has done the same thing, and those changes have shown more and more with each successive appearance.
“I feel much more comfortable,” she admitted. “I want to be one of the best grapplers, and I had to think ‘How can I do that?’ Before, I just thought it was jiu-jitsu — transitions, transitions — and I was not getting anywhere, especially in my first fight. We do a lot of specifics in camps about how different (everything is), watch a lot of fights to see how the great grapplers are doing things because there is always something to learn.
Jaqueline Amorim Gets The Armbar Submission On McKenna | UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs Tybura
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Jaqueline Amorim Gets The Armbar Submission On McKenna | UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs Tybura
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“I’m so much more confident, I think my sparring is going well, and I can’t wait to show my improvement in this performance.”
Saturday’s fight is a tricky one of sorts, as despite being in the UFC for the previous six years, the 31-year-old Mizuki has made just three appearances and is returning for the first time in a touch over two years.
WATCH: UFC 321 Embedded | Episode 1
“I always try to focus on myself, but I know that she has been out for two years or something,” Amorim said with a smile when asked about the challenging situation of preparing for someone that has been out of action for so long and fought just once in the last five years. “I know Mizuki is a very tough fighter, she’s been fighting way before me — she has a lot of experience — and I’m sure she’s gonna come well prepared for this fight, especially since she hasn’t been fighting for two years.
“I know she has great grappling too, so we mostly prepared (looking at) how I can (implement) my game well because I know if I can get to the point where I can perform the way that I want, there is nothing she can do that will really surprise me.
“I’m really focused on that — to have the game plan sharp to be able to get to do that — and if I do, it doesn’t matter what kind of different game she (brings) to this fight; I think the outcome is going to be how I want it.”
For the streaking strawweight, that idealized vision of Saturday night’s business trip to Etihad Arena ends with her getting her hand raised and the judges not being needed.
READ: The Biggest Storylines From UFC Fight Night: De Ridder vs Allen
“If everything goes according to plan — how I’m training, how I visualize the fight — I’m going to finish. I like to finish fights.
“I don’t wanna win a decision; I want to finish fights,” she added with a smile. “I don’t want to leave it to the judges; that’s just how I am. As a jiu-jitsu black belt, I’m supposed to be finishing fights.”
Jaqueline Amorim TKOs Ruiz For First UFC Win | UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Dos Anjos
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Jaqueline Amorim TKOs Ruiz For First UFC Win | UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Dos Anjos
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She had been throughout her career, both prior to and since arriving in the UFC, and with the division in a state of flux at the moment, the timing feels right for Amorim to kick off this weekend’s pay-per-view fight card with another impressive effort and get herself into the kind of matchup that she finally feels ready for next.
“I have four straight wins and if I win this, get my fifth straight win — I asked after my last fight for a ranked opponent because I know I can be in there and I want to fight the best in the world,” she said. “I think at some point you have to test yourself, so I think after a win over Mizuki, it will put me close to the rankings and I want someone ranked next.
“I do like the idea of no rushing into the rankings because more fights gets me more experience, and once you’re in the rankings, you wanna go up and not be coming down,” Amorim added. “I want to fight more so that when I reach the rankings, I’m ready to just keep going up.”
UFC VANCOUVER: Main Card Results | Prelim Results | Scorecards
And with the vacant title on the line this weekend, what better time for her to go out, secure another stoppage victory, and bring herself closer to getting on that championship track.
“I want to fight for the belt one day,” she said. “I know the belt is gonna be on the line, and I wanna fight for it one day. I’m much closer now than I was before, and I just want to keep making more improvements to get there.
“After this fight, I can’t wait to fight a ranked opponent and test myself.”
UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane took place live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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