Women’s bantamweights have a lot more to fear about current champion Amanda Nunes.
Nunes cemented her place as arguably the greatest female fighter of all time when she moved up to featherweight and knocked out Cris Cyborg in the first round to become a simultaneous two-division champion at UFC 232.
Now moving back down to her natural weight class, the Brazilian will defend her 135-pound title against former champion Holly Holm in the co-main event of UFC 239 on July 6.
While most would assume Nunes would lose some of the power she gained from the extra weight at 145 pounds, she now claims to have more power even as she makes the cut to 135 once again.
“I still have the power, for sure, because I was [already] happy with my 135-pound fights,” Nunes told MMA Heat during UFC 239 media day. “And going up, training heavy and coming down is giving me extra power. I really feel very good right now. Strong, powerful and ready to go.”
Most bantamweights wouldn’t want to engage with Nunes in the standup anyway. But probably even more so if she has more power now. Regardless, the heavy-handed “Lioness” expects Holm to point-fight during their five-round contest.
“Holly has very good movement,” Nunes explained. “She moves a lot, she goes in and out. I know she’s going to look to outpoint me. Try to hold me against the cage… because all my opponents think that.
“I feel like she’s going to run, run, run and play the point, point, point until she finds the right moment. She has very good kicks. I have to be ready for everything in this fight. Holly’s very tough and dangerous. I’m like really, really ready for everything she’s going to bring on the night.”
UFC 239 takes place July 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Thiago Santos.