Asking about a potential Amanda
Nunes trilogy fight has become something of a tradition
following each Valentina
Shevchenko title defense.
That is due in large part to Shevchenko’s dominance at 125 pounds,
which continued at UFC 261 with a second-round TKO of former
strawweight champion Jessica
Andrade. Shevchenko’s most difficult flyweight bout arguably
came at UFC 231, when she claimed the vacant belt with a five-round
verdict against Joanna
Jedrzejczyk. Since then, “Bullet” has rarely been tested.
Nunes has been similarly dominant at bantamweight and
featherweight, but the last time she faced Shevchenko, “Lioness”
won a narrow split decision in a 135-pound title bout at UFC 215
that many had going the other way. However, Nunes is now 2-0
against Shevchenko — she took a unanimous decision in their first
meeting at UFC 196 — and Dana White currently doesn’t have much
interest seeing them fight for a third time.
As it stands, there’s currently only one way White would sign off
on a trilogy.
“[They should have] their own legacies,” the UFC president said at
Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “They fought a couple
times. People can think whatever they want. There’s always going to
be somebody else coming up [to challenge Shevchenko]. There’s
always a new contender. And it’s not Valentina’s fault that she’s
one of the all-time baddest women on this planet. So making her
move up to 135 pounds just doesn’t make sense when she did it
twice.
“If they both come to me and they both want to do it, then whatever
– I’ll make it happen. But it’s not something I’m thinking
about.”
Shevchenko, meanwhile, believes a third date with Nunes will come
when the time is right. But she isn’t pushing for the fight at the
moment.
“I can say exactly about my fighting career, it’s not gonna [be]
over soon,” Shevchenko said. “I plan to fight for a long time. I
think that this fight is just going to happen. I’m not going to
push it like, give me Amanda right now, I’m gonna break her face.
I’m not gonna say it because I know this fight’s gonna happen. It’s
gonna happen just literally when everyone will feel like there is
no more, only this fight makes sense for everyone.
“When all the fans are like, ‘We want this. We want to see this
fight.’ When the UFC and Dana White are like, ‘We just need this
fight.’ I think that when it’s time to happen, it’s gonna be
something big and huge and I will be ready for this. I’m already
ready for this, but I will make sure to gain some pounds back.”
Nunes is slated to make her next bantamweight title defense against
Julianna Pena at UFC 265 on Aug. 7.