Amanda ‘The Lioness’ Nunes retains UFC women’s bantamweight title
ULTIMATE FIGHTING Championship ( UFC) women’s bantamweight champion Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes retained her title yesterday by edging challenger Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko by split decision in the main event of “UFC 215” in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Rendered a technical fight in five full rounds, Brazilian Nunes did just enough, particularly in the fifth round where she got to do some vital takedowns, to win by split decision, 47- 48, 48- 47 and 48- 47, and make it a second successful title defense.
Incidentally, Nunes vs. Shechenko 2 was forced to be the main event after the supposed main fight between UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger Ray Borg was scratched at the last minute because of injury to the latter,
In the co-main event, Rafael Dos Anjos made it 2-of-2 in the welterweight division after submitting number six contender Neil Magny in the opening round of their encounter by way of an arm triangle.
Misses Nunes and Shevchenko fought tightly in the first four rounds with both fighters having their strong moments to make the outcome of the contest still open entering the fifth and final round.
In the last round, the two fighters started aggressively, exchanging blows before the champion went for takedowns that the challenger tried desperately to fight off.
But Ms. Nunes would be successful a couple of times of taking down Ms. Shevchenko which turned out to be enough to swing the tally in her favor en route to claiming the victory.
“We knew she will come out strong for this fight so I trained hard in the gym and worked on what I needed to do and it paid off tonight,” said Ms. Nunes, who improved to 15-4 and won her sixth straight fight.
Understandably, Ms. Shevchenko (14-3) was upset that things did not go her way anew.
“I don’t believe how the decision would go the other way. Just because of takedowns in the last round? I had her in the full fight. Look at her face? I don’t believe it,” a disappointed Shevchenko, who also lost in January last year to Ms. Nunes ( unanimous decision) in their first fight, said.
A WELTERWEIGHT FORCE
Former lightweight champion Dos Anjos, meanwhile, made a strong case for himself in his new weight division of welterweight with another impressive victory this time over Mr. Magny.
Brazilian Dos Anjos got good leverage early after dropping Mr. Magny and got top position.
Mr. Magny tried to wiggle his way out but Mr. Dos Anjos was not to allow the American to do so, punishing the latter with heavy ground and pound.
Mr. Dos Anjos managed to put himself on full mount and landed heavy elbows on Mr. Magny before locking a tight arm triangle that eventually forced his opponent to tap out and the referee calling a stop to the fight at the 3:43 mark.
“I’m coming for that welterweight belt. I’ve been training hard. I’m a former lightweight champion. I’m coming for that belt,” said Mr. Dos Anjos as he made known his intention to go after the title currently held by Tyron Woodley.
“I’m happy to have come up to 170 pounds and I believe this is the right weight for me at this point,” he added.
With the win, Mr. Dos Anjos improved to 27-9, 2-0 in the welterweight division.
Mr. Magny, for his part, dropped to 19-6 and fell anew after winning in his previous fight.
In earlier fights, flyweight Henry Cejudo won over Wilson Reis via a second-round technical knockout ( punches), light heavyweight Ilir Latifi beat Tyson Pedro by unanimous decision ( 29- 28, 29- 28 and 30- 27), and featherweight Jeremy Stephens defeated Gilbert Melendez by unanimous decision (30-26, 3026 and 30-25).
Next for the UFC is “UFC Fight Night 116” that will showcase the middleweight fight between former champion Luke Rockhold and David Branch in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 17 (Manila time).
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost directto-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.