UFC double champion Amanda Nunes believes she’s the only reason that the women’s featherweight division is still around.
It seems Amanda Nunes isn’t ready to let go of her double-champion status, but first, she has a grappling threat in Julianna Peña to deal with. The bantamweight queen will put her belt on the line against Peña on Aug. 7. The last time fans witnessed Amanda Nunes inside the cage was in her featherweight title defense against Megan Anderson where she finished the Australian with an inverted triangle arm-bar. Since then, many fans and pundits alike aren’t sure what would be next for Nunes should she beat Pena in Aug.
The bantamweight champion spoke about the UFC president Dana White’s intentions of dissolving the division. Nunes believes that the featherweight division simply lacks talent and that eventually, the promotion will find more of it.
“Dana [White] wants to end this division, but I told him that, as long as I’m champion, I want it open,” Nunes told Combate. “I think the issue with the featherweight [division] is talent. I think it’s hard to find talented girls in this division. I could be wrong, but we’re seeing that the girls that fought Cris [Cyborg] needed a little bit more. Not that they are bad athletes, but they needed some work.”
The double champion hasn’t given up on the featherweight division but admits it needs work. Since the champion just defended the title a few months ago, eliminating the division at this point might not be the right answer either. The champion is aware that it is difficult to find featherweight contenders but is willing to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of her.
Do you believe that Amanda Nunes should retire the featherweight division? Let us know in the comment section below what you think is the best for Amanda Nunes and the UFC!
