Like Yanez, Pinheiro graduated to the UFC with a victory on Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, but she has been limited to just two appearances since then, and returns this weekend against veteran contender Michelle Waterson-Gomez after spending the whole of 2022 on the sidelines.
The 29-year-old Brazilian looked good in the opening stages of her promotional debut against Randa Markos before taking an illegal upkick in the face and being unable to continue, then earned a unanimous decision win over Sam Hughes in her sophomore showing to advance to 10-1 for her career. She spent the majority of the last year recovering from a knee injury, but can make a splash and generate a ton of momentum if she collects a win over Waterson-Gomez on Saturday.
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A fixture in the Top 10 since debuting in the summer of 2015, Waterson-Gomez has lived on the fringes of title contention for the majority of her UFC run and represents a significant step up in competition for Pinheiro, despite entering on a two-fight slide and having dropped four of her last five.
Again, similar to Yanez, this might be a case of Pinheiro skipping a step, but it’s a risk worth taking for the clearly talented judoka, who has won eight straight overall. With the top of the division in flux at the moment, this is an opportunity for her to topple a tenured veteran, catapult herself into the Top 10, and set herself up for something even bigger later in the year.
And if things don’t work out in her favor, there is plenty of time to take a half-step back, reset, and start trying to move forward again next time out.
