Amanda Nunes will become the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champ-champ to return to her original weight class to defend her Bantamweight title against former division queen, Holly Holm, at UFC 239 on July 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In Holly, Nunes will be facing perhaps the most technical striker she’s ever come across, as “The Preacher’s Daughter” boasts some of the best boxing in all of women’s mixed martial arts (MMA) thanks to her extensive experience in the sweet science.
Still, Amanda says Holly has several holes in her fight game, and she plans to take advantage of them just like Miesha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko did before her.
“Well, she is not a champion anymore. Of course she has holes in her game. Miesha Tate exposed her a lot. Valentina Shevchenko exposed her a lot. She has a bunch of fights even that she won that she have a lot of holes,” explain Nunes during a recent media scrum.
“I feel like I have to manage very well my time, and wait for the best moment. I don’t need to try and fight here, she has to come to me. She can run, she can try to outpoint me, but I am going to be sharp when I get her in the right moment.”
With eight straight wins, including victories over Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, and the aforementioned Shevchenko (twice), Nunes is widely known as the women’s GOAT in MMA. A dominant victory over Holly will only solidify that claim.
A win for Holm, though, will not only bring her back to championship prominence, but will have a ripple effect in women’s MMA as Nunes will still be the Featherweight champion, a division that isn’t completely solidified in UFC.
And this potential move won’t help matters, which means an instant do-over is possible should Holly end Amanda’s run.