LFA 125 Main Event Breakdown: Amorim vs. Young

Strawweight Supremacy on the Line

Highlighting the action on Friday night is the battle for supremacy at 115 lbs., as Jaqueline Amorim (4-0 MMA, 2-0 LFA) squares off against Loveth Young (3-1-1 MMA, 2-1 LFA).

The newly-vacant LFA Strawweight Championship is at stake on Friday in the LFA 125 main event. Its winner will become the fourth different woman to hold strawweight gold, and it will be in a five-round fight at five minutes per round.

This championship fight is a rebooking of a cancelled bout from last November, as Amorim and Young were initially scheduled to have met in the original main event of LFA 118, a pairing eventually scrapped as the California State Athletic Commission refused to sanction the contest— with this news coming on the night of the card.

History Bodes Well for New Strawweight Champion

If history is any indication to go by, it stands to reason that the new LFA Strawweight Champion should be expecting a UFC call-up by Dana White at some point after Friday night’s LFA 125 main event on UFC Fight Pass.

All three previous champions at 115 lbs., Vanessa Demopoulos, Lupita “Loopy” Godinez, and Piera Rodriguez, joined MMA’s top promotion upon winning the strap, with nary a title defense from any of the three competitors.

Will history hold true to form again after the LFA 125 main event this Friday night? Tune in and find out.

LFA 125 Main Event Fighter Comparison

Entering the LFA 125 main event for the LFA Strawweight Championship on Friday evening, Jaqueline Amorim stands taller at 5-foot-3, while Loveth Young counters with a 5-foot-2 frame.

In addition, Jaqueline Amorim holds a four-inch reach advantage (67 1/2 inches to 63 1/2 inches) over Loveth Young going into the LFA 125 main event this Friday night.

Jaqueline Amorim Looks to Continue Streak of Fast Finishes

If there’s been one constant in Jaqueline Amorim’s young MMA career, it’s that she gets the job done in a hurry; much like legendary sports entertainer Bill Goldberg in the late World Championship Wrestling.

Amorim has yet to lose a fight in her MMA career and she also has yet to get out of the first round of a fight in her MMA career.

Out of a possible 12 rounds and 70 minutes of fight time thus far, Amorim has only logged four minutes and 12 seconds in the cage, as all four of her victories have ended inside the opening round of the bout.

This continued in her most recent fight back in July of last year, when she needed just 10 seconds to dispose of Megan Owen by knockout due to punches during LFA 110.

After the fight, Amorim spoke of her quick win with Alan Jouban, who served as the telecast’s analyst and post-fight interviewer that evening.

“It feels great,” Amorim began. “I always knew I had power, I was just waiting for the right moment to show I’m not just a grappler. I can throw hands, too.”

A word to the wise: If you plan on tuning in for the LFA 125 main event this Friday night, you would be best served to not so much as blink. You may miss the entire fight.

Loveth Young Looks to Derail Amorim’s Meteoric Rise

In the other corner, Loveth Young has posted a 3-1-1 record thus far in her young MMA career and enters the LFA 125 main event on a two-fight winning streak.

Most recently, she scored a second-round knockout due to punches over Kelly D’Angelo more than a year ago during LFA 97. In the interim basis, Loveth Young had two planned fights canceled without a punch thrown.

Prior to the initially-scheduled fight last November versus Amorim, she saw an Oct. 29 fight withdrawn against Larissa Carvalho in UAE Warriors 24, and as previously stated, CSAC declined to sanction the original fight between Young and Amorim on the day of the event.

A key storyline for Loveth Young and her camp is going to be the question of how much ring rust is there, as she has not stepped inside an MMA cage in over 13 months.

If she is to have any shot at winning the LFA Strawweight Championship in the LFA 125 main event on Friday night, she has to seize control of the contest from the command to fight. Anything less than that could doom her efforts right from the beginning.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

Stylistically, the LFA 125 main event on Friday evening seems to favor Jaqueline Amorim, a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, with Loveth Young countering with a boxing and kickboxing background.

For Jaqueline Amorim, All it Takes is One Shot

As previously mentioned, all four of Jaqueline Amorim’s previous MMA bouts have ended inside the opening round. One aspect of her fight acumen that opened up in her last contest was her ability to punch her way to the victory.

Right after the fight began against Megan Owen, Amorim unloaded with a vicious punch to send her down, and although she scored with vicious ground and pound shots to close the show that summer evening, the damage was already done.

All it will take for Jaqueline Amorim to win the LFA 125 main event is for one punch to land on the button. If she is able to land that seminal blow, it’s a wrap.

Loveth Young is Just as Vicious With Her Punches

In the other corner, Loveth Young says, “Hey, not so fast, Jaqueline, because I can swing in my own right.”

This is something that Kelly D’Angelo found out firsthand in their fight against one another last year. During the second round of a scheduled three, Young pieced her up with punches, bloodying her nose and mouth in the process, along with a cut on top of her forehead.

From there, she was able to land a takedown and sprawl on D’Angelo, and although the latter was able to return to her feet, Young was able to continually score with body shots and punches to the head, the last of which sent D’Angelo crumpling to the floor and caused the referee to intervene.

If Loveth Young is able to mix up the target of her punches and keep Jaqueline Amorim guessing in the LFA 125 main event on Friday night, she will effectively steal her opponent’s momentum.

Final Thoughts

We could be looking at a striker’s delight or a grappler’s treat on Friday night in the LFA 125 main event. It all depends on each woman’s willingness to engage the other’s best areas.

One final word: Don’t blink, because you might miss the fight, particularly if Jaqueline Amorim gets on a roll.

Prediction: Jaqueline Amorim by First-Round Knockout.

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