PHOENIX – Want to be an MMA superstar and have the paycheck to prove it? You could have worse role models than Conor McGregor.
That’s thinking of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, anyway.
Over the weekend, Nunes, who recently defended her 135-pound title for the first time with with a 48-second beatdown of Ronda Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), said she wants to move up to 145 pounds. Once there, she wants to fight Holly Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) or Germaine de Randamie (7-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who for the UFC’s inaugural women’s featherweight title at UFC 208 on Feb. 11.
MMAjunkie caught up with Nunes, who was backstage at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 103 event to watch girlfriend Nine Ansaroff (7-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) defeat Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (6-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) for her first UFC win. While there, Nunes doubled down on her two-division champion aspirations.
“Conor McGregor did it,” said Nunes, the No. 1 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings. “Why can’t I? …
“Everybody got so excited when Conor did it. I think, with me, I think they’ll be excited too.”
Nunes, a 28-year-old Brazilian, is on a five-fight winning streak and an overall 7-1 run. One of those victories came via TKO over de Randamie at UFC Fight Night 31 in 2013, and she said she’s leaning toward Holm in their upcoming UFC 208 headliner. However, she said both fighters have ways to win the fight, though she doesn’t expect either to be too tough of a challenge to keep her from her goal of holding two belts.
“I feel like I want more challenges for my career,” Nunes said. “I know I can be a champion at 145 too. That’s why I pushed (it) on my Twitter and everywhere, and I hope (UFC President) Dana White can give me the opportunity. I will show him the real champion.”
Like McGregor, Nunes is likely to face critics. Although a slim majority of MMAjunkie readers voted that they’d like to see Nunes go after both belts, a vocal minority is likely to argue that she hasn’t cleaned out her own division and should focus on defending the 135-pound title.
Nunes, though, said her recent win over Rousey should count for quite a bit.
“I defended (the belt) already, with the most dominant athlete on the planet,” she said. “Forty-eight seconds? I think deserve it if I ask for it for the next fight.
“I think the fans want to see it – a female fighter go to another weight class and take the two belts.”
For more on UFC 208, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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