Amanda Nunes Not Believer That Brazilian Fighters Shouldn’t Fight Each Other

Just a few weeks ago there was talk of an Amanda Nunes vs Cris Cyborg fight going down at UFC 226, but that plan looks to have been put on the backburner following the announcement that Nunes will face Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 on May 12.

Fans had a mixed response to the news that the champion vs champion fight wouldn’t be going down in the foreseeable future, but speaking to UFC Unfiltered this week, Nunes said she was just pleased that there is finally some movement in her own division.

“Of course, I’m focused on Raquel right now, but like I said, before, I made this very clear, when I text Dana White I wanted this fight, it was because there was no one else in my division,” Nunes said.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to fight soon, you know. I didn’t want to stay waiting and waiting for years because I’ve been in that position before where there is so long before a fight.

“I don’t want to do it again. Staying here, waiting and waiting and waiting, but now, we have Rocky and we have Ketlen Vieira and I feel like my division is starting to grow.

“If you give attention to the division it could be awesome and now I have two, Rocky and Ketlen. I think Rocky is my next opponent and I want to see Ketlen after.”

Whilst the fight with Cyborg might not be happening in the foreseeable future, Nunes thinks it could still happen down the line. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion doesn’t subscribe to the belief that Brazilian fighters shouldn’t fight other Brazilian fighters and she thinks that the best should just fight the best.

“It has to make sense for both of us to do this so we can do this,” Nunes said.

“It’s nothing personal against Cyborg. I know she’s Brazilian and she like said because we’re Brazilian we aren’t supposed to fight and things like that, but when you become a professional fighter, to become the best, you want to be beat the best.

“It’s nothing personal against her and I feel like a lot of things are involved in that. I want to keep fighting, I don’t want to wait to fight.

“Right now my division has a new contender and I’m excited for that and whatever happens after that we will see.

“But it’s not really something I am focusing on right now.”