Daniel Cormier: Only Valentina Shevchenko Can Challenge Amanda Nunes
Daniel Cormier believes only Valentina Shevchenko can challenge Amanda Nunes.
Nunes successfully defended her women’s featherweight title in the UFC 250 headliner this past weekend following a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Felicia Spencer.
In the process, the two-weight champion not only became the first female to defend two titles, but further cemented her place as the greatest female fighter of all time. Now undefeated in her last 11 fights, the question turns to who the “Lioness” should face next, especially given how she is so far ahead of the pack.
For former heavyweight champion Cormier, he only sees current women’s flyweight queen Shevchenko testing Nunes.
“There’s one person in the world that can fight Amanda Nunes and that’s the champion at 125 [pounds] [Valentina Shevchenko] right now unless someone completely separates themself in both of these divisions,” Cormier said on the latest DC & Helwani show on Monday (via ESPN MMA).
Nunes vs. Shevchenko III?
Nunes has already defeated Shevchenko twice.
The first fight was a clear-cut unanimous decision victory. The second fight — for the bantamweight title — was more controversial with Nunes winning a split decision which many observers felt should have been a victory for Shevchenko.
A trilogy seems to be the only fight to make at this point, especially with “Bullet” far ahead of everyone else in her division as well. UFC president Dana White, however, doesn’t see that being the case.
“For the third time? And Amanda won twice? No,” he said at the UFC 250 post-fight press conference, adding how he felt women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang was a more likely opponent for Shevchenko in the future.
However, if both champions continue to keep winning with ease, White will eventually have no choice but to book a trilogy between the pair.
Do you agree with Cormier that only Shevchenko can challenge Nunes?
