Amanda Bobby Cooper is looking to prove she belongs in the UFC, despite her deceptive 3-3 record after UFC 218.
A TUF finalist, Amanda Cooper went into UFC 218 with just a 2-3 record before outlasting the controversial Angela Magana on her way to a mercy stoppage win in her home territory of Detroit. While she's .500 as a pro with only six fights, she's actually been training for nearly fourteen years and has competed at least 19 times across the professional, amateur and TUF ranks.
You can see an excerpt from the fight in our Fightful live coverage below.
Round Two: The round begins with Cooper swinging away at Magana, Cooper scores a takedown on Magana and she gets the full guard. Cooper starts attacking Magana with some ground and pound, Cooper transitions to the half guard on Magana. Cooper then gains the side control position against Magana, Cooper quickly advances to back control on Magana. Cooper looks for the rear naked choke and lets it go to nail Magana with more strikes, Cooper goes back to the half guard while assaulting Magana with more strikes. Cooper regains back control while nailing Magana with more strikes, Cooper turns up the heat with the strikes and the referee jumps in.
Official Result: Amanda Bobby Cooper def. Angela Magana by TKO via strikes (4:34, R2)
After the bout, Fightful.com caught up with "ABC" and talked to her about the emotional hometown victory.
"I never cried after a win, but I was bawling my eyes out. I don't live in Detroit, but I live very close -- 15 minutes away. When people are from Detroit, I don't care who you are as a sports athlete, I'm rooting for you. I knew if I got Detroit on my back, they're going to be on mine," said Cooper.
2017 saw a long layoff for Cooper, but she's hoping to get back in the cage quickly, and preferably against someone she hasn't trained with before.
"I wanted to fight before, I want to stay more active. They gave me a list of girls, a lot of girls I trained with from the TUF house. That didn't really interest me because I know who they are and know how they are. I just want someone new," Cooper revealed to Fightful. "I want to enjoy Christmas. Catch up on my priorities. I'd like to fight the first couple of months of the year."
See our full UFC 218 results and live coverage at this link, and the Fightful.com post-show Podcast at this link.
