Amanda Nunes Explains Why She Doesn’t Want To Fight Cyborg

Reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is gearing up to defend her 135-pound title in a rematch with top contender Valentina Shevchenko at July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas, Nevada, although the “Lioness” has expressed interest in moving up to 145 pounds in order to pursue her goal of becoming a two-weight world […]

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Reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is gearing up to defend her 135-pound title in a rematch with top contender Valentina Shevchenko at July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas, Nevada, although the “Lioness” has expressed interest in moving up to 145 pounds in order to pursue her goal of becoming a two-weight world champion.

In fact, Nunes recently revealed that if the UFC had offered her a bout with featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie she would’ve accepted it:

“I’m interested in fighting the girl who has the belt now, de Randamie,” Nunes told MMAFighting.com. “Because I’d rather beat her. If UFC wanted to give me the opportunity to go up now, yes I would have taken it. Later is another thing.”

De Randamie won the inaugural 145-pound strap last February with a somewhat controversial decision victory over Holly Holm. Many, however, consider Cris Cyborg to be the best 145 pounder in the world and fight fans are hoping to see her challenge GDR for the title later this year, although there have been rumors indicating that de Randamie is dealing with personal issues.

While Nunes would like to see Cyborg crowned as the UFC champion, she admits that she isn’t interested in fighting her right now because there are a lot of changes she would need to make in her training camp to take on a larger opponent like the Brazilian slugger:

“I want to see Cyborg with this belt,” Nunes said. “I’m not interested in fighting her. I’m not interested in fighting her. I’m interested in fighting the girl who has the belt now. After my next fight, we’ll see what happened.

“I’d have to do a lot of things to fight Cyborg. Cyborg is way heavier, way bigger than me. I’d have to change all my training style to fight Cyborg. This is another thing I’d have to go over with my coaches.”

Cyborg has competed twice in the UFC thus far, scoring back-to-back stoppage victories over Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg in 140-pound catchweight bouts. She has expressed interest in competing at UFC 214 this July.

Would you like to see Nunes and Cyborg square off at some point?

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Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko Rematch Set For UFC 213

Another bantamweight title fight has been added to July 8’s UFC 213, which will take place during International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is already scheduled to meet TJ Dillashaw on the card, although that bout is now in jeopardy after it was reported that Garbrandt is dealing with back

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Another bantamweight title fight has been added to July 8’s UFC 213, which will take place during International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is already scheduled to meet TJ Dillashaw on the card, although that bout is now in jeopardy after it was reported that Garbrandt is dealing with back issues, and it was announced at the UFC’s Summer Kickoff Press Conference earlier today (May 12, 2017) that Amanda Nunes will also put her 135-pound title on the line in a rematch against top contender Valentina Shevchenko.

The two even get physical when facing off (Courtesy of Fox Sports’ Damon Martin):

 

Nunes has won five consecutive fights including a decision victory over Shevchenko in their first meeting at UFC 196. Since then, she has scored back-to-back stoppage victories over former champions Miesha Tate at UFC 200 and Ronda Rousey at UFC 207. The “Lioness” finished Rousey in just 48 seconds.

Shevchenko, on the other hand, has picked up two straight victories since losing to Nunes. She outpointed former titleholder Holly Holm in July 2016 and she submitted Julianna Pena this past January.

Who do you expect to walk away with UFC gold when these two run it back in July?

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Amanda Nunes Reacts To Valentina Shevchenko’s Rio Refusal

Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are having a tough time agreeing to a date for their perceived upcoming title bout. A rematch between the two, who fought in a close bout that current women’s bantamweight champion Nunes won at last year’s UFC 196, was all but set in stone when Shevchenko submitted Julianna Pena at

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Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are having a tough time agreeing to a date for their perceived upcoming title bout.

A rematch between the two, who fought in a close bout that current women’s bantamweight champion Nunes won at last year’s UFC 196, was all but set in stone when Shevchenko submitted Julianna Pena at January 28’s UFC on FOX 23 and Nunes gave up her quest to fight for the featherweight belt.

All that was left was to set the date, so Nunes recently (and understandably) called Shevchenko out for June 3’s UFC 212 from her homeland in Rio de Janeiro:

‘Bullet’ was quick to fire back, explaining that the UFC had offered them both a fast turnaround to fight at April 8’s UFC 210 event from Buffalo, but “The Lioness” turned it down so she made plans. Because of that fact, Shevchenko proclaimed she’d be ready anytime in July:

Finally, the champion took a bit of umbrage to her foil’s reply, noting that challengers do not pick the date of the fight, only show up and fight:

That’s an understandable response from the champ, who’s coming off a dominant first-round stoppage of former champ Ronda Rousey that lasted only 48 brutal seconds.

However, it looks like Nunes’ attempt to get her next title defense confirmed for Brazil backfired when she turned down an earlier fight day, as Shevchenko is now aiming for the festivities of International Fight Week in July.

UFC 212 still boats a high-profile title fight, with longtime featherweight champ Jose Aldo set to defend his newly-reacquired belt against streaking interim champ Max Holloway in the main event.

As for Nunes and Shevchenko, who are you picking to win the rematch, no matter when it happens?

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