Amanda Nunes is considered one of the greatest women’s MMA fighters in history.
The next UFC Hall of Famer is a two-division great who is now turning her attention to the current bantamweight champion, Kayla Harrison, to pick up the fourth title of her career.
After defeating Juliana Pena by submission in her third fight to become champion, Harrison now eyes a two-fight saga with the Brazilian legend.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC
While the win against Pena, who Jon Anik described as ‘nasty’, was a magnificent achievement for a fighter with only three fights in the organisation, there is still more work to be done.
Amanda Nunes sends direct warning to Kayla Harrison for a UFC title fight
‘The Lioness’ Nunes vacated the belt two years ago after her final defence against Irene Aldana, but she is eyeing a return to the Octagon.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, she confirmed her desire to jump back in at the world title level, where she has always belonged.
She said: “The next thing is, and the new, we are going to hear it once again, it is not crazy if you guys think about that honest.
“I’m going to get my belt back and you are going to interview me again, and I am going to tell you, ‘remember I told you I would get my belt back’.
“I’m ready to go… I’m going to keep making history.”
Her best run spanned both the feather and bantamweight divisions, with a 12-fight win streak against the likes of Holly Holm and Cris Cyborg.
Amanda Nunes may suffer the same fate as a former UFC bantamweight champion who lost his return fight
While she looks towards her return, there is one former bantamweight champion who did not have success upon his return after vacating his belt.
Henry Cejudo scored a second-round stoppage over rival Dominick Cruz to retain his crown but announced his retirement thereafter.
A return from retirement against Aljamain Sterling, who is considered one of the top five best bantamweights after Merab Dvalishvili, did not go in favour of the Olympian.
‘Funk Master’ used his range and strikes to keep Cejudo at bay across the five championship rounds to retain.
Unfortunately for ‘The Messenger’, this would mark the beginning of a three-fight losing streak, including defeats to Dvalishvili and Song Yadong.
He has not officially announced a retirement, but insists he will have one more contest before leaving his gloves in the centre of the cage.