UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes has spoken about her desire to become the first woman to hold two belts in as many divisions. She says she’s more than willing to rematch current champion Germaine de Randamie — who she beat back in 2013 — but isn’t keen on facing the best in the division in Cris Cyborg.
“Cris is a huge 145. I’m little for 135,” Nunes explained. “To fight Cris, I will have to train in a specific way to get more muscles, and be more strong. This take time to do. The champion right now is Germaine de Randamie, and she’s from my weight class. That’s why I want to go up. Because I beat her before, and I know I can beat her and take this belt.
“To be with 2 belts, has never happened in the UFC for women,” she said about making history.
Related: Nunes says she will retire after 2-3 more fights
“I want to see Cris Cyborg as champion. She deserves this. She’s a warrior like me,” she continued. “This division was opened for her, but she (took time) off, and I know she will come back. If she will take a long time, I want to go up and fight Germaine. But if Cris wants to come back, I want to see Cris as champion.”
Nunes says she wanted the glory of being the first to win two belts, but mostly because it was two 135’ers who competed for the inaugural featherweight title. When it comes to Cyborg, she readily admitted to not being ready or willing to rush in against the larger, dominant champion.
In a sport that naturally breeds machismo and insane amounts of self-confidence, it certainly is refreshing to hear honest assessments like these from a pretty talented and scary champion herself. I’m just not sure if it helps her from a marketing stand point.
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