Video: Champ Amanda Nunes, Raquel Pennington face off for first time ahead of UFC 224

RIO DE JANEIRO – Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington faced off for the first time today ahead of their women’s bantamweight title fight UFC 224.

Nunes (15-4 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who puts her title on the line for the third time at UFC 224, which takes place May 12 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, faced off against Pennington (9-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) during today’s media day in Brazil.

Although Nunes vs. Pennington was expected, UFC President Dana White toyed with the idea of scrapping it to ensure a champion vs. champion showdown between Nunes and featherweight titleholder Cyborg (20-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC). Following Cyborg’s TKO win over Yana Kunitskaya this past Saturday, White said he would consider making the super fight next.

“I think that I will,” White said at UFC 222’s post-event press conference in response to a question from MMAjunkie.

“Could be (in Rio),” White continued. “I mean, (Cyborg) just fought, so once the adrenaline goes down, she’s got to get checked out and make sure she’s 100 percent. And I just think her and Nunes is the fight that needs to happen.”

Be that as it may, it’s Pennington who gets a 135-pound title shot first, despite not competing since November 2016. Pennington is on a four-fight winning streak capped by a dominant decision over ex-champ Miesha Tate at UFC 205. Pennington previously was targeted for a bantamweight title shot against Nunes at UFC 219 but was sidelined in October after a vehicle accident.

For Nunes, the fight with Pennington will be the third attempted defense of her bantamweight title in a win streak that stretches six fights. Most recently, Nunes outpointed Valentina Shevchenko by split decision in September at UFC 215, rebounding after a bout of sinusitis that scratched a previous headliner between the two.

Check out Nunes and Pennington face off in the video above.

For more on UFC 224, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.