Amanda Nunes continues to dominate, but UFC president Dana White isn’t ready to see her fight Valentina Shevchenko for a third time just yet.
Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC), the women’s featherweight and bantamweight champion, became the first fighter in UFC history to defend two belts simultaneously when she retained her 145-pound title with a one-sided decision over Felicia Spencer this past Saturday at UFC 250.
Nunes continues to tear through competition in two weight classes, leaving many to wonder if there’s anyone left for her to face. Two of the toughest challenges of her career came against Shevchenko (19-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), the UFC women’s flyweight champion, who took Nunes to the brink in 2017 in a split decision.
Speaking to reporters at the UFC 250 post-fight news conference, White was asked if it’s time Nunes faced Shevchenko in a trilogy bout, but White didn’t seem too interested.
“For the third time? And Amanda won twice? No,” White said.
He actually thinks there’s a higher chance Shevchenko faces UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili first.
“I don’t think that’s the right fight for Valentina,” White said. “If you look at Amanda, she’s the queen of two divisions right now – ’35 and ’45 – and I think what you’d see before that is a couple more wins from (Zhang) Weili and that fight happening before you would see the Amanda fight again.”
Shevchenko, who has already defended her 125-pound title three times, has lost just twice in the UFC, both close decisions to Nunes.
