Amanda Nunes from Brazil. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
After Ronda Rousey dropped Bethe Correia last week in their UFC 190 bout, another Brazilian is making a case for a possible shot against the undisputed UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
dropped Sara McMann in UFC Fight Night 73, making the former Olympian tapout via a rear-naked choke with 2:53 remaining in the first round and impressing a lot of observers.
The finish was also hailed as the event’s Performance of the Night, an accolade which may just earn Nunes (11-4), currently at number seven in the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings, a possible fight against Rousey.
“I don’t need to talk. I’m going to step in the cage and do my thing. My next fights are going to be like this – I’m going to win more bonuses and knock people out, submit. For sure, I’m going to have my title shot soon,” Nunes said after the fight.
But McMann (8-3) wants a piece of Rousey for herself too.
“Anytime I lose, I want revenge,” the 34-year-old said in an interview with Fox Sports.
“I want to avenge the loss. I want to go back and show that I’m better than the person. I feel that towards Meisha (Tate) and Ronda, but obviously the one with Ronda, that was even more controversial stoppage, so I would like that one to be first,” she said.
McMann lost to Rousey at UFC 170 after repeated knees to the body, but many believers think that the referee Herb Dean stopped the fight too early.
Rousey has been on a vacation after stopping Correia in their 34-second match a week ago.
UFC president Dana White has already hinted a possible third fight between Rousey and Tate in December in Dallas, but with the challenges made by Nunes, McMann, and possible fight against Cris “Cyborg” Justino if she goes down to bantamweight, the hoopla for Rousey’s next opponent just got a little bit more interesting.