The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Featherweight division just got a bit more shallow. During a recent Twitch stream, Megan Anderson revealed that she is no longer under contract with the Endeavor-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion.
According to confirmation from MMA Fighting, Anderson’s contract expired following her first round submission loss to UFC women’s “champ-champ,” Amanda Nunes, at last weekend’s UFC 259 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a decision to renew it did not come to pass.
According to statement Anderson made during the stream, she claimed that the promotion was set to do away with the entire 145-pound weight class as a whole. While it has always been popular belief that the promotion would eventually eliminate the division due to the fact that there aren’t enough fighters to make a Top 15, UFC President Dana White reiterated post-UFC 259 that as long as Nunes wanted to defend the belt, the division would live on.
Per the report, it’s a sentiment the promotion is willing to stick with following Anderson’s departure, even though it now has one less contender. Nunes will drop down to Bantamweight to defend her belt in her next fight (possibly against Julianna Pena), which means the Featherweight division will be put on hold for some time, at least when it comes to the championship picture. The next fight in the weight class will be Felicia Spencer taking on Danyelle Wolf on May 22.
During her time with the promotion, Anderson amassed a 3-3 record, picking up wins over Cat Zingano, Zarah Fairn Dos Santos and Norma Dumont Viana while losing to Nunes, Spencer and Holly Holm.
There are a couple of options for Anderson moving forward, including Bellator MMA who has a healthy 145-pound weight class. If she decided to pack on a few more pounds, Anderson can try to sign with Professional Fighter’s League to compete in its Lightweight division.