With a Stalled Division, Norma Dumont’s Career is Stuck and She’s Frustrated with UFC Rankings
Norma Dumont is frustrated with the lack of movement in her division.
Despite sitting on a six-fight win streak and a 9-2 record under the UFC banner, Dumont appears to be no closer to a title fight than she was before beating fellow top-five-ranked contender Ketlen Vieira in November.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, ‘The Immortal’ seemingly placed much of that blame on former champ-champ Amanda Nunes, who announced her return to the Octagon last year following her retirement in 2023.
“I thought Amanda was back to really fight and fight whoever, and now it’s all about that little issue they have between old team members and whatever their problem is, and my career gets stuck because of this,” Dumont said. “So it’s really frustrating.”
The “little issue” Dumont referenced is a bit of lingering drama between Nunes and her former American Top Team teammate and reigning UFC bantamweight champion, Kayla Harrison.
For much of their time training together, Harrison was busy running through the PFL’s lightweight division. But as her star continued to rise, the two-time Olympic gold medalist started calling for high-profile fights with the likes of Cris Cyborg and Nunes.
Recognizing that their brewing rivalry would inevitably cause a divide at ATT, Nunes left the gym and ultimately walked away from the sport following a dominant title defense against Irene Aldana at UFC 289.
Norma Dumont thinks it’s time to ‘clean up’ the division
With Harrison rising to the top of the 135-pound division in her absence, Nunes is determined to come back and reclaim her crown. The two were originally scheduled to square off at UFC 324 for the promotion’s big Paramount+ debut, but a neck injury forced Harrison out of the bout.
Unfortunately, that’s left Dumont and much of the division in limbo.
“Clean it up, you know, and get new blood in there in place of the people that occupy these rankings and spend a year or two years without fighting,” Dumont continued, offering up a solution for the lack of movement. “That’s what keeps everything stuck. In a perfect world, these girls need to move on and give an opportunity for new fighters.”
Dumont currently sits as the third-ranked contender and, by all accounts, is next in line for the winner of a yet-to-be-rescheduled clash between Harrison and Nunes.
