Amanda “Powerhouse” Lucas captured her first mixed martial arts title belt tonight at DEEP: “57 Impact” in Tokyo, Japan. Lucas survived a late rally from veteran opponent Yumiko Hotta en route to claiming the vacant DEEP Women’s Open-Weight Championship with a third-round keylock.
Despite making her first appearance in an MMA ring since November 2000, Hotta put up a much tougher fight in defeat than many had expected. She was nearly able to finish Lucas with a guillotine choke in the early stages of round three, but Lucas escaped and secured the fight-ending submission.
Lucas (4-1-0) found herself in a brawl early on with Hotta (5-4-0), who scored with a series of punches in the opening minute. Lucas countered with a combination of her own and took Hotta down to the mat. There, Lucas had a clear advantage and she was able to land punches at will while Hotta did little more than stall for a standup. When the fighters were brought back to their feet, Hotta rushed in with punches and was taken down again. Lucas pinned down Hotta’s arms and landed numerous punches to the face before hunting for a keylock late in the round.
Hotta again had early success with punches in the second stanza, but Lucas wisely took the fight back down to the ground and resumed punching from top position. She looked to set up a straight armbar, but Hotta defended well. Lucas landed more punches that caused Hotta’s face to swell up before time expired. Once more, Hotta unleashed a barrage of punches to open round three, but was promptly taken down. She locked on a guillotine choke from the bottom in hopes of a come-from-behind victory, but Lucas managed to free herself and moved to side control. She then secured a far-side keylock and Hotta was finally forced to submit.
The victory earned Lucas the inaugural DEEP Women’s Open-Weight Championship. She has now won four straight fights since dropping her pro debut, with three wins coming under the DEEP banner.
Winner: Amanda Lucas by Submission (Keylock) at 2:16 of round three. She improves to 4-1-0 and becomes the first DEEP Women’s Open-Weight Champion.
(Photo Credit: DEEP)