The Ascent of Jaqueline Amorim

Jaqueline Amorim appears to be well on her way to becoming a key player in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division.

The promising 29-year-old Brazilian will carry a stellar 9-1 record into her showdown with Polyana Viana as part of the UFC on ESPN 66 undercard this Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Amorim enters the cage on the strength of three consecutive victories, all of them finishes. She last competed at UFC Fight Night 242, where she put away fellow former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Vanessa Demopoulos with an armbar in the first round of their Sept. 7 pairing.

“I feel I’ve evolved significantly as an MMA athlete since my debut,” Amorim told Sherdog.com. “I make much better use of grappling for MMA. When I was getting started, I wanted to focus on jiu-jitsu, but this is a mix of martial arts. There were big improvements once I came to that way of thinking.”

Viana steps back into view heading in the wrong direction. The onetime Jungle Fight titleholder has lost six of her past nine bouts, including two straight. Viana, 32, last suited up on Jan. 20, 2024, when she succumbed to second-round punches from Gillian Robertson at UFC 297. She reps the Chute Boxe affiliate fronted by Diego Lima in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Polyana is very experienced,” Amorim said. “She was in the UFC before I even got started in MMA. She does have an edge in experience, and she’s a complete fighter who can perform on the feet, as well as on the ground. Everyone at this level should know every facet of the sport. That’s why I work hard not to be one-dimensional. We spotted some holes in her game. My forte remains jiu-jitsu. My goal is always to impose my game and win by submission, but if the fight lasts all three rounds, I’m ready for that, too.”

Amorim undertook pre-fight preparation at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where she put the considerable resources of one of the sport’s preeminent camps to use.

“Since she’s taller than me, we looked for that in my training partners,” Amorim said. “I trained mostly with tall, thin and agile male fighters. It helped with managing distance. We worked on my grappling—jiu-jitsu and wrestling—as well as striking. I want everyone to see that I’m also a good standup fighter. I’m not limited to only takedowns and submissions.”

Amorim views Viana as the latest obstacle in her path to relevance at 115 pounds.

“My focus is on winning this fight in front of me,” she said. “I believe that with this win, I’ll be facing someone in the Top 15 next. It’s what I want. I want to grow as a person and as an athlete in the organization.”