Nina Ansaroff thankful girlfriend/UFC champ Amanda Nunes kept putting on pressure to win

PHOENIX – After pair of yearlong layoffs in just three years, Nina Ansaroff knew she could be slipping into obscurity. Thankfully, she said, she had someone in her corner making sure fans didn’t forget.

Ansaroff (7-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC), the girlfriend of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, picked up her long-awaited first UFC victory with a third-round submission win over fellow strawweight Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (6-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) on Sunday at UFC Fight Night 103.

The bout, which closed out the UFC Fight Pass early prelims prior to the FS1-televised prelims and main card at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, followed a 2014 UFC-debut loss to Juliana Lima and an early-2016 decision defeat to Justine Kish.

With lingering injuries, as well Nunes’ overnight star status, Ansaroff’s career sputtered a bit. But as the Brazilian champ dethroned Miesha Tate and then posted a dominant first title defense over megastar Ronda Rousey this past month, Nunes made sure we didn’t forget about her better half.

“Man, for her last three fights, she’s called me out, telling everybody that I’m the next champion,”Ansaroff said. “It’s a little bit of pressure, but she believes in me. I know what I’m capable of. She does too. And it only motivated me to get the win tonight.”

Ansaroff, a 31-year-old who previously fought for Invicta FC, is now focused on fight frequency. Healthy, motivated and inspired by Nunes’ success, Ansaroff wants a busy 2017 campaign. And if all goes to plan, she said, she could someday soon be fighting for a belt of her own.

“I think if I put (three wins) together, it would be three finishes, and I think in this division, that puts you straight up there for a (title) shot,” she said. “I want to go back to the gym and fix a couple things that I feel like I had mistakes with tonight, and finish fights and keep going until I get to the top.”

So, what’s next? Does she have an opponent in mind who can help her take the next step up the divisional ladder?

“No, no names,” she said with a shrug. “Every time I ask for one, I don’t get it anyway. There’s no point in calling anyone out.”

Check out the full interview above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 103, check out the UFC Events section of the site.