Marina Rodriguez on loss at UFC Vegas 64: ‘Stopped too soon!’ 

Marina Rodriguez is frustrated with her third-round TKO loss to Amanda Lemos at UFC Vegas 64 this past Saturday.

Rodriguez was stunned by Lemos, who tagged her with a right hand before following up with a flurry of punches that led to referee Jason Herzog stepping in and stopping the fight, much to the chagrin of the Brazilian. She immediately protested the stoppage, which she felt was too early.

In her first post-fight comments, Rodriguez expressed her frustration with the stoppage again, writing on Twitter that being in such a precarious position is all ‘part of the game’.

“You stopped too soon! As a professional, I’m there to face a lot more, that’s what I’m in this game,” wrote Rodriguez. “It’s part of the game, win, lose, in different situations!

“We continue in our way!,” continued Rodriguez. “Thank you all for the support and cheerleading!”

With the loss, Rodriguez not only saw a four-fight win streak snapped, but she may have also missed out on a championship opportunity. The No. 3 strawweight was clear that she wanted to challenge the winner of Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili in her next appearance, but that may have to wait until she can return to the win column.

As for Lemos, she has declared herself the new No. 1 contender and set her sights on the winner of Esparza vs. Weili.

“Yeah, I should be the next one to line up,” said Lemos at her post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Junkie). “[I’m going to] go back home, rest for a week, go back in the gym and just wait for that opportunity to be the next one for the title.”

Lemos is now on a two-fight win streak, which also includes a second-round submission of Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC Long Island in July.