UFC women’s bantamweight Irene Aldana could be next in line for a title shot, but you won’t hear that from her.
After knocking out a woman who was knocking at the door of a world title shot, Ketlen Vieira, at UFC 245, there is a common expectation for Aldana to take Vieira’s place in the bantamweight pecking order. After all, Vieira was ranked #2 and was competing the same night the #1 contender, Germaine de Randamie, who lost in her bid at championship status. But if Aldana does indeed receive the next title shot, it won’t be because she asked for it (Via MMA Junkie):
“I don’t ask for fights, and I just wait for the UFC to ask me for a fight – to make a proposal for a fight,” Aldana told reporters following her UFC 235 victory. . “I think I’m ready. I just need to rest a little because I’ve been very active this year. I’ll definitely go back as soon as possible to my gym and train hard because I know harder opponents are coming.”
But perhaps none was harder than Aldana’s previous opponent Vieira, who, prior to Aldana’s KO, no one had been able to solve.
“She was undefeated,” Aldana said. “She was next in line for the belt, so she represented a great challenge for me. I know that I came into this fight with nothing to lose (and) a lot to win. But there was a lot of risk because she’s so tough. We worked really hard all year. Every fight I took this year helped me to take this win.”
Do you believe Irene Aldana is ready to challenge Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight championship?
