One mistake was all Amanda Lemos needed to snatch a nasty guillotine choke and tap out Michelle Waterson in the UFC Long Island co-main event.
The end came after Waterson attempted a takedown that Lemos avoided before seeing the opening for the submission. As soon as Lemos grabbed the neck, she fell down into her guard and Waterson tapped just seconds later — even with referee Kevin McDonald in a bad position to actually see her concede to the submission.
The official stoppage came at 1:48 in the second round.
“It was a defeat that motivated me to come here and fight again,” Lemos said of her previous loss to Jessica Andrade. “I came here to win and get a victory. She ducks her head a lot and I’m taller. I’ve trained the guillotine hundreds of thousands of times for this fight.”
Heavily favored by the oddsmakers, Lemos lived up to the billing with some nasty kicks that starting chipping away at Waterson as she attacked the legs and body in succession. Lemos also swung hammers with her fists as she looked to take off Waterson’s head off with every punch thrown.
Waterson eventually countered with a takedown, but Lemos did a good job to avoid any real damage before reversing positions just as the first round ended.
The second round saw more of the same, with Lemos blasting Waterson with kicks that forced “The Karate Hottie” to once again turn to her grappling. Waterson shot in for the takedown, but in the ensuing scramble, Lemos saw her opponent leave her neck unguarded — and that was all she needed to look for the guillotine choke.
Lemos grabbed the submission and didn’t let go until Waterson either submitted or went to sleep. Ultimately, Waterson tapped rather than roll over and get locked in a mounted guillotine choke.
The victory put Lemos back on track following a loss to Andrade, while Waterson fell to 1-4 in her past five fights.