Athletes
UFC 292 Coach Conversation | Zhang Weili vs Amanda Lemos
Elite MMA Coaches Break Down Saturday's UFC 292 Bantamweight Championship Main Event
Ahead of every championship fight, UFC staff writer E. Spencer Kyte will sit down with some of the sharpest coaching minds in the sport to break down the action and provide UFC fans with insights into each championship pairing from the men that spend their days getting these elite athletes prepared to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.
For UFC 292, Kyte called upon Tyson Chartier, head coach of the New England Cartel, for a one-on-one discussion of the strawweight title fight between champion Zhang Weili and challenger Amanda Lemos.
Best Trait of Each Fighter
Kyte: At a time in the sport where everyone is pretty solid everywhere, generally speaking, what is the one thing that each of these competitors do better than anyone else? What is the one element to their game that stands out the most?
Chartier: It’s tough. Lemos seems physical — she gets in there, she has good submissions, she can crack — and Weili is such a wild card because she got out-wrestled by Rose Namajunas, but I feel like she still has decent wrestling. She’s also physical — she’s strong for that weight class.
Kyte: This is where this sport is so weird because I would say that on paper, Lemos profiles as the first person that might be able to physically, in terms of strength, match Zhang’s strength, but then she couldn’t get Jessica Andrade off of her.
Chartier: That’s what confuses me, too. You get this real strong, physical girl coming in that struggled with Andrade, but then Weili — she’s a strong girl. They both bring that, and I’m interested to see who is going to be physically dominant.
Kyte: The other thing to me about Lemos that differentiates her in this division is the power. I think Zhang has got — not necessarily power, but force — and Lemos has that “if I hit you with one, you might fall over” power.
Path to Victory for Each Fighter
Kyte: Everyone would love a 10-second knockout or a quick submission, but that’s not often how these things go, especially not at the championship level. Instead, it’s usually the competitor that has crafted the better game plan and did the better job of executing things inside the Octagon that comes away with their hand raised and the gold around their waist.
So, how does either woman get it done on Saturday night?
Chartier: To me, it’s a toss-up on the feet, and then Weili is known to get more submissions than Lemos, so does she go to the wrestling game and look to see if she if she can get a submission? It’s a weird fight.
Kyte: It is — it’s an awkward fight because…
Chartier: I have no idea what is going to happen!
MORE UFC 292: Aljamain Sterling Chasing All-Time Status | Coaches Conversation Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O'Malley
Kyte: I think each of them would probably prefer to stand and strike, use their athleticism, use their power, but the best path to victory for Zhang is probably to wrestle; it’s probably to close that distance so that Lemos’ power doesn’t factor as much, try to put her on her back.
It’s a weird fight.
Chartier: I still feel like Weili should try to go to the ground — she works with a bunch of good grapplers — and then Lemos needs to try to crack; I think she needs to try to use that power.
It’s a weird fight. It’s hard to go against Weili, and I think it’s just a weird style thing between her and Rose, but other than that, she’s looked awesome.
X Factor
Kyte: If there were one thing that was going to significantly impact how this fight plays out — that swings it in one direction or the other — what would it be?
Chartier: I think it’s going to be the physicality; both these women are dominant, they’re physically strong, so is Weili going to be able to overpower Lemos and use her wrestling or is Lemos going to be too strong to get taken down?
I think the physicality is the x-factor. Who is going to be the bigger bully? Because they’re both bullies. Who is going to show they’re the stronger one in this fight and will be able to dominate physically? I’m interested to see who is going to be the bully.
Kyte: I think it’s going to be the conditioning.
As much as Zhang doesn’t necessarily go five rounds very often, she’s prepared for it for the last six fights, has done it a couple times, including an absolute classic with (Joanna) Jedrzejczyk the first time, whereas Lemos was tiring in the fight with Angela Hill that was three rounds, and now you’re going against Zhang.
To me, that championship fight experience is going to be a big factor, I think.
View Their Athlete Profiles: Zhang Weili | Amanda Lemos
Chartier: Yeah, when you know that you can go hard in the first two rounds and then still go hard in the fourth and fifth — when you have that in your back pocket, it does make a big difference in terms of pacing and confidence.
Kyte: To me it’s even stuff like, sure, Lemos has headlined before, but she’s never been in this position, on a pay-per-view before. This is big stakes. They sent a camera crew down to follow her around. There is going to be more focus and attention on her this week than has ever been on her in her UFC career, and everybody reacts differently to that stuff.
Embedded is following you around, and they’ve never followed her around before; that can be weird.
Chartier: And obviously Weili has done that a bunch.
One Coaching Curiosity
Kyte: Coaches see the sport differently and look at the sport differently than anyone else, picking up on different things and paying attention to movements, habits, or intangible pieces that others might not notice, but that could have a significant impact on the action inside the Octagon.
Every matchup offers its own unique collection of elements that might pique a coach’s interest and get them paying a little closer attention to once the fight gets underway.
So what is that one thing in this matchup?
Chartier: I think it’s what you said about the conditioning — does Lemos have five-round stamina, under the big lights, against someone that probably matches her everywhere? Does she have the conditioning to go five rounds wherever the fight goes?
Kyte: Because if she does, this could get really interesting. If she can — so much of this fight to me hinges on who Amanda Lemos is on Saturday.
Can she stop takedowns? Can she keep it standing? Can she go at a good clip? Can she sting Zhang on the feet? The champ is the known commodity; Lemos is the absolute wild card.
Chartier: I think her losing the physicality battle to Andrade makes me hesitant to think she’ll be able to deal with Weili.
UFC 292: Sterling vs O'Malley took place live from TD Garden in Boston on August 19, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
