Miesha Tate offers to fight Irene Aldana next after UFC 296 win: ‘Maybe I will see you soon’

Miesha Tate welcomes fight with Irene Aldana after UFC 296 I'll see you soonLinked with a return against a host of former foes at UFC 300 in April of next year, former…

Miesha Tate welcomes fight with Irene Aldana after UFC 296 I'll see you soon

Linked with a return against a host of former foes at UFC 300 in April of next year, former undisputed bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate appears to be weighing-up a fight with former title challenger, Irene Alanda next, off the back of the Mexican’s win over Karol Rosa at UFC 296 over the weekend. 

Tate, a former bantamweight champion under the banner of the UFC and the now-defunct, Strikeforce, most recently turned in a third round rear-naked choke win over Julia Avila earlier this month, landing her first finish since winning the title against Holly Holm back in 2016.

Earning the number eleven rank at the bantamweight limit with her submission victory, Washington native, Tate has been linked with both rematches against Ronda Rousey, and the above-mentioned, Holm – appearing interested in the possibility of fighting the latter as soon as UFC 300 next year

“I think it’s a great time,” Miesha Tate told said. “I think that sounds reasonable. I think I got a little bit of an injury leaving that fight [with Julia Avila]. So, I’ve got to get an MRI and check myself out just make sure. But it’s not very severe… I’ve been walking around, and I think I’m actually all right. I think I’ll be OK. So if I can do that, then I think Holly (Holm) would be a fantastic one.” 

“She was kind of like edging me on the feet, I’ll give her that,” Miesha Tate explained. “I absolutely smashed her on the ground. So, anyway, to answer your question, I think it would be fun to run that one back.”

And tuning into UFC 296 over the weekend, Tate watched on as Mexican striker, Aldana landed a decision win over Brazilian contender, Rosa in her first fight since dropping a title charge to common-foe, Amanda Nunes back in June, in a Fight of the Night clash.

Miesha Tate eyes fight with Irene Aldana after UFC 296

Welcoming the possibility of standing opposite the Lobo Gym staple next, Tate teased a potential pairing in the future.

“@IreneAldana_ great fight,” Miesha Tate posted on her official X account. “Maybe I will see you soon. #UFC296.” 

Who wins in a future fight: Irene Aldana or Miesha Tate?

Irene Aldana ‘sh*t the bed’ against Amanda Nunes says ex-UFC employee

Irene AldanaIrene Aldana completely “sh*t the bed” in her bantamweight title fight with Amanda Nunes. That is according to the former UFC-referee-turned-Bellator MMA commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy. On Saturday night, Aldana stepped into the main event spotlight for a long-awaited showdown with the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT, Amanda Nunes. While Aldana went into the contest […]

Irene Aldana

Irene Aldana completely “sh*t the bed” in her bantamweight title fight with Amanda Nunes.

That is according to the former UFC-referee-turned-Bellator MMA commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy. On Saturday night, Aldana stepped into the main event spotlight for a long-awaited showdown with the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT, Amanda Nunes. While Aldana went into the contest as a considerable underdog, nobody expected her to take the shellacking that ‘The Lioness’ handed her in the Great White North.

Through five rounds, Nunes outstruck Aldana 196 to 57 and landed six of 13 takes in the process, amassing seven minutes of control time. It was such a one-sided affair that one judge even scored it 50-43 in favor of Nunes.

Irene Aldana has been the subject of significant criticism following her stagnant performance at UFC 289. Appearing on his Weighing In podcast alongside Josh Thomspon, John McCarthy offered his take on Aldana’s performance and pulled no punches in the process.

“She sh*t the bed. Let’s just be honest,” McCarthy said. “No disrespect, the moment got to her. She gave too much respect. It was overwhelming. She didn’t throw… just no output. How are you expecting to win if you’re not f*cking throwing things back at her (Nunes)? Setting things up, making things happen. You’ve gotta go. This is your chance. This is it. You have been waiting for this. Now is your opportunity, and you just let it go by” (h/t MMA News).

Irene Aldana Apologizes For Poor Performance at UFC 289

Following the decisive defeat, Irene Aldana took to Instagram and issued an apology to her fans and coaches for the uninspired showing.

“I’m sorry to have failed my coaches and all of you, I assure you that this does not stay like this… it was a bad night,” Aldana said in a statement on social media. “But the goal is still clear and the objective is still that 4th belt… I promised you and I’m going to fulfil it… whatever the cost.”

After having her hand raised, Amanda Nunes promptly announced her retirement from mixed martial arts, laying down her UFC title belts and gloves inside the Octagon. With ‘The Lioness’ now out of the picture, the bantamweight division is wide open with multiple fighters chomping at the bit to get their shot at the newly vacated title. Julianna Pena, the woman who was originally scheduled to scrap with Nunes at UFC 289, will likely find herself in the next bantamweight title tilt, but who will it be against?

All signs point toward veteran Raquel Pennington who served as the official backup for Saturday’s main event between Irene Aldana and Amanda Nunes. Streaking standout Erin Blanchfield has also thrown her name into the hat of potential contenders.

Who would you like to see square off with the ‘Venezuelan Vixen‘ for the 135-pound crown?

Amanda Nunes retains title in lackluster fight, confirms retirement from MMA – UFC 289 Highlights

Amanda Nunes‘The Lioness’ Amanda Nunes returned to the Octagon on Saturday night for a bantamweight world title showdown in the UFC 289 main event. Nunes set out to defend her 135-pound crown against No. 5 ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana inside the Rogers Center in Vancouver. Irene Aldana struggled to find any offense in the opening […]

Amanda Nunes

‘The Lioness’ Amanda Nunes returned to the Octagon on Saturday night for a bantamweight world title showdown in the UFC 289 main event. Nunes set out to defend her 135-pound crown against No. 5 ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana inside the Rogers Center in Vancouver.

Irene Aldana struggled to find any offense in the opening round as Nunes asserted her dominance and peppered her opponent with a variety of strikes. Near the four-minute mark of the first round, Nunes got a little overzealous and moved in allowing Aldana to land a solid right that caused a small cut near Nunes’ left eye. While it was arguably the best strike of the round, Aldana’s lack of activity likely lost her the first five minutes.

Rounds two and three saw ‘The Lioness’ continue to land strikes at will as Aldana simply could not find an opening to unleash her hands. In the third, Nunes, opted to mix it up, using her wrestling skills to forcefully take Aldana to the mat on multiple occasions. Clearly down three rounds at this point, Aldana was strongly encouraged by her corner to move forward and let her hands go. Aldana attempted to do just that in the fourth, but her offense was still stagnant as Nunes looked sharp as ever.

With her victory all, but certain, Amanda Nunes took things to the ground in the opening moments of the fifth round. Nunes kept her opponent’s back pinned to the mat through the final five minutes, putting an exclamation point on an incredibly dominant performance inside the Octagon.

Official Result: Amanda Nunes def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-43)

Following the contest, Amanda Nunes laid down both of her UFC championships along with her gloves and officially announced that she will be retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts.

Check Out Highlights From Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana at UFC 289 Below:

UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana – Betting Preview

UFC 289 Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana Betting PreviewInitially opening as a large betting favorite to defeat would-be opponent, Julianna Peña ahead of UFC 289 – with a switch of opponent, two-weight champion, Amanda Nunes still remains a large bookies favorite to retain bantamweight gold this weekend as she takes on Mexican challenger, Irene Aldana. Nunes, the current undisputed bantamweight and featherweight champion, […]

UFC 289 Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana Betting Preview

Initially opening as a large betting favorite to defeat would-be opponent, Julianna Peña ahead of UFC 289 – with a switch of opponent, two-weight champion, Amanda Nunes still remains a large bookies favorite to retain bantamweight gold this weekend as she takes on Mexican challenger, Irene Aldana.

Nunes, the current undisputed bantamweight and featherweight champion, will make her Octagon return this weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – taking on Jalisco native, Aldana in a bid to kick start her second reign as queen at 135lbs with a successful title defense.

As for Aldana, the Mexico native lands her first title siege since joining the UFC from Invicta FC, removed from a scheduled fight with Raquel Pennington – booking a title showdown with Nunes in place of an injured, Peña.

Riding a two-fight winning run into her title showing in ‘The Great White North’ – Aldana most recently landed a hugely unique and quite bizarre upkick body shot Ko win over Macy Chiasson, finishing The Ultimate Fighter 28 winner with a third round finish.

However, despite her recent run of good form, Aldana is quickly closing as a betting underdog (+250) to defeat Nunes over at BetWay – with the Brazilian emerging as a stunning (-300) – in quite clear-cut fashion. 

Reclaiming her bantamweight spoils in July of last year in the main event of UFC 277 in Dallas, Texas – Nunes, a native of Bahia, Brazil, turned the tide on Peña in a big way – landing a completely one-sided unanimous decision success against the Washington native to reclaim the throne at 135lbs. 

Successfully scoring two previous defenses of her featherweight title, Nunes landed a one-sided decision win over Felicia Spencer, before stopping Megan Anderson with a spectacular first round reverse triangle armbar win at the UFC Apex facility. 

In further activity of note at UFC 289 this weekend at the Rogers Arena in Canada, a touted title-eliminator at the lightweight limit is on deck – as former undisputed divisional champion, Charles Oliveira returns to the Octagon for the first time since October – tackling Iranian-born grappler, Beneil Dariush.

Dropping lightweight spoils to the scales last May – infamously, Oliveira is closing as a short and rather close betting underdog (+120) to defeat Dariush (-150) this weekend in their co-main event slot – with the latter hoping to score his first title opportunity, and lodge consecutive triumph number eight against the Sao Paulo native. 

However, despite closing as a betting underdog to defeat Dariush outright at UFC 289 this weekend, Oliveira appears to be attracting attention with punters and bettors in regards to landing a finish via KO or submission against the former, closing currently as a -450 favorite to land a finish over Dariush, who is currently priced as a +350 underdog. 

Furthermore, both men are priced at -162 odds to land a finish over one another at UFC 289 this weekend, with both men largely viewed as both knockout and submission threats, respectively – and with Oliveira, the Brazilian enters his return fight as the most prolific outright finisher and submission artist in the history of the organization.

Amanda Nunes urged to embrace retirement ahead of UFC 289 headliner: ‘Stop doing all this sh*t’

Amanda Nunes urged to embrace retirement ahead of UFC 289 stop doing all this sh*tSlated to headline UFC 289 this weekend in a bantamweight title fight against Irene Aldana, two-weight promotional champion, Amanda Nunes has been urged to embrace a potential impending retirement from active competition, from one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith. Nunes, the current undisputed featherweight and bantamweight champion, is slated to headline UFC 289 this […]

Amanda Nunes urged to embrace retirement ahead of UFC 289 stop doing all this sh*t

Slated to headline UFC 289 this weekend in a bantamweight title fight against Irene Aldana, two-weight promotional champion, Amanda Nunes has been urged to embrace a potential impending retirement from active competition, from one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith.

Nunes, the current undisputed featherweight and bantamweight champion, is slated to headline UFC 289 this weekend in the promotion’s return to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – taking main event honors against Mexican replacement, Aldana in a reworked main event clash.

Yet to feature since July of last year, Bahia native, Nunes managed to reclaim the bantamweight throne with a largely one-sided unanimous decision victory over Julianna Peña in the pair’s championship rematch in Dallas, Texas.

Amanda Nunes urged to embrace a potential retirement from MMA

Revealing recently how she had weighed up the prospect of retirement following her stunning December 2021 title submission loss to Peña, Nunes has been urged to make peace with a potential retirement from the sport, by Nebraska native Smith.

“Is it weird that, at times, I look forward to Amanda Nunes’ retirement,” Anthony Smith told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “It’s a very weird sentiment I have. Sometimes when I see her in these fight weeks, in these interviews, and she’s dragged her whole family there, and then she gets in and she fights – sometimes I almost feel bad for her.”

“Like, just go enjoy your life, and just go have fun,” Smith explained. “Like, stop doing all this sh*t. Because a lot of times, she [Amanda Nunes] doesn’t seem to always enjoy it that much.” 

A decorated two-weight champion, over the course of her professional career, Nunes has landed spectacular triumphs over the likes of Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie, Felicia Spencer, Megan Anderson, and the aforenoted, Julianna Peña. 

Irene Aldana tipped to shock the world against Amanda Nunes at UFC 289: ‘We can shock her’

Irene AldanaIrene Aldana’s jiu-jitsu coach, Diego Lopes, believes she can shock the world against Amanda Nunes, just as Alexa Grasso did with her fourth-round submission against Valentina Shevchenko in March. Aldana will head to the Great White North on June 10 for her first crack at UFC gold as she is set to challenge reigning two-division […]

Irene Aldana

Irene Aldana’s jiu-jitsu coach, Diego Lopes, believes she can shock the world against Amanda Nunes, just as Alexa Grasso did with her fourth-round submission against Valentina Shevchenko in March.

Aldana will head to the Great White North on June 10 for her first crack at UFC gold as she is set to challenge reigning two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes for the women’s bantamweight world championship. A winner in four of her last five matchups, Aldana stepped up to the plate after Nunes’ originally scheduled opponent, Julianna Pena, was forced to withdraw due to an injury. Despite the somewhat short-notice nature of their pairing, Aldana’s coach is confident that the Mexican-born striker can get the job done and follow in the footsteps of another one of his pupils, Alexa Grasso.

“Amanda is a tough fight for anyone in the division,” Lopes said on a recent episode of MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “We know she’s the best in the division, but I think our team is used to fighting that, like Alexa did with Valentina. Everybody saw Valentina as unbeatable, and we went there and did our job to win the fight.”

In addition to working with Irene Aldana, Diego Lopes was also in the corner of Alexa Grasso the night she tapped out Valentina Shevchenko to capture the 125-pound crown. The well-respected BJJ coach suggested that history could repeat itself at UFC 289 and bring Mexico its fourth UFC title this year.

“I think we can surprise Amanda like that,” Lopes said of Aldana’s chances. “To go in there and show something Amanda hasn’t faced yet, which is the level of boxing Irene has, to surprise her and bring the second [UFC] belt to the team and the fourth to Mexico.”

What’s Next For Alexa Grasso Following Her Historic Victory Against Valentina Shevchenko?

While Diego Lopes has his hands full preparing Irene Aldana for the biggest opportunity of her mixed martial arts career thus far, he expects to know what the future holds for newly crowned flyweight titleholder Alexa Grasso before long. The likeliest scenario is an immediate rematch with former champion Valentina Shevchenko, but it’s possible that rising contenders Manon Fiorot or Erin Blanchfield could sneak in and score their own title opportunity. No matter the case, Grasso and her team will be ready for whatever the promotion presents.

“It really depends on what the UFC has in mind for Alexa,” Lopes said. “We’ll be ready to fight any opponent the UFC gives us.”

Lopes will also have his eyes locked on two big impending title tilts featuring Mexico’s finest during International Fight Week in July. Brandon Moreno will defend his UFC flyweight world title against Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch more than five years in the making. The bout will co-headline UFC 290 on July 8 alongside a featherweight championship unification bout as undisputed king Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski will look to unify his title against interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez.

“I’ll be watching them, especially Yair’s fight with Volkanovski, because I like to watch every fighter in my division and see at what level they are,” said Lopes, who impressed in his UFC debut earlier this month in a hard-fought decision loss to 17-0 talent Movsar Evloev. “It’s a hard fight, and it might be surprising. Yair could win, but Volkanovski could dominate the fight. I think it’s going to be very dynamic, and will go down to the small details.

“[Moreno vs. Pantoja] will be very interesting because Pantoja already beat Brandon twice, once on [The Ultimate Fighter] and then in the UFC, so let’s see what they bring to the table now. I had the opportunity to train with Brandon a few times and see his evolution. It’s going to be a very tough fight and we stay on the fence — having trained with Brandon and having a friendship with him, I hope he gets to defends the belt and keep it in Mexico because the country is working really hard for years to get to this point.”