MMA Rumors: Two Options For UFC Champ Amanda Nunes For Her Next Title Defense, Per ‘MMAjunkie’
After beating Cris Cyborg at UFC 232, UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes succeeded to become the first woman in UFC history to hold championship belts in different divisions simultaneously. Despite heading into the fight as the underdog, “The Lioness” only needed 51 seconds to end Cyborg’s 15-year unbeaten streak.
Amanda Nunes and the UFC are yet to release an official statement regarding her next title defense, but according to MMAjunkie, two options have begun to flourish for the UFC two-division champion. These include a rematch with Cris Cyborg and a potential fight against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Most people are definitely expecting an immediate rematch between Nunes and Cyborg, but Holm is also an intriguing opponent for “The Lioness.”
As MMAjunkie noted, Amanda Nunes has defeated every woman who held the bantamweight and featherweight belts, except Holly Holm. Holm expressed strong interest in fighting Nunes, and she’s very optimistic that the match between her and “The Lioness” is something that mixed martial arts fans want to see. However, as of now, Holm wants to focus on her upcoming fight against Aspen Ladd at UFC 235.
“I’ve been focusing on this particular fight because I don’t want to overlook who I’m facing now and then run into a loss because I was looking too far into the future,” Holm told MMAjunkie. “I’m never promised another day and another fight, so I need to make the most of what’s in front of me. I’m going to have this fight with Aspen Ladd and we’ll see what happens going forward. There’s always short goals and long goals. Yes, I would love to be able to fight with Nunes. It’s one of the things that could happen.”
Former UFC champion Holly Holm wants Amanda Nunes fight after UFC 235 https://t.co/Iv6i4HZCKk
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) January 16, 2019
Aspen Ladd won’t be an easy opponent for Holly Holm. Aside from being 13 years younger, Ladd remains unbeaten. Holm is not in any way underestimating Ladd, and she admitted that she spent plenty of time studying her strengths and weaknesses.
If she succeeds to beat Aspen Ladd, it is highly likely that Holly Holm will immediately call out Amanda Nunes. Holm won’t have any problem fighting Nunes in the bantamweight or featherweight division. Before moving down to the bantamweight division to face Ladd, Holm fought at 145 pounds and secured a victory against Megan Anderson at UFC 225. Holm has tried to go after the UFC women’s featherweight title twice but failed. In her first attempt, Holm suffered a controversial loss to Germaine de Randamie, while her second was against Cris Cyborg.
