Amanda Nunes fought on March 6th at UFC 259 and successfully retained her featherweight title with a 1st round submission of Megan Anderson.
The win was so dominant that many fans and pundits began wondering what Nunes will do next. It didn’t take long for UFC betting sites to pick up on this uncertainty as they released a prop bet asking who her next opponent will be.
Before we step inside the betting octagon to examine this prop bet, we must first take a look at what the UFC is planning on doing with the women’s featherweight division and what Nunes still wants to accomplish.
The reach… jab pic.twitter.com/FV8Wssrdhs
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) March 9, 2021
Nunes Aims to Defend Both Titles
Last September, Nunes and her wife Nina Ansaroff welcomed their first child. Some pundits and fans speculated that Nunes’ days in the octagon could be winding down due to her fulfilling life outside of the cage.
Yet, that’s not what Nunes wants. In fact, the greatest female MMA fighter of all-time plans to compete for a long time as she’s committed to defending both of her titles:
“I’m here, I’m a champion and I’m defending these belts. I’m going to be here for a long time. I worked hard for this moment. I’m hungry. Whatever happens next, I’m going to be here to defend. It’s not something that I’m going to go away. I have two belts. I have to come back and defend them and I’ll be very happy to do it.”
UFC Willing to Keep the Featherweight Division Going
Amanda Nunes has been so dominant in her last two featherweight title defenses that it’s become a challenge for the UFC to find a worthy contender in this weight class.
However, UFC President Dana White declared that he will keep the division going if Nunes wants to keep defending the title:
“We’ll keep that division cranking as long as the champ-champ wants to defend it.”
In her last two fights, Nunes beat former Invicta FC featherweight champs Felicia Spencer and Megan Anderson. She’s completely cleaned out the division.
It appears that Nunes is more than likely to defend her bantamweight title next until the UFC can find a worthy challenger.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the following odds from the best US sports betting sites and see which option is worth betting on.
Amanda Nunes Betting Odds
- Julianna Pena (-110)
- Valentina Shevchenko (+200)
- Germaine de Randamie (+400)
- Holly Holm (+800)
- Claressa Shields (+2000)
Julianna Pena (-110)
Pena was originally scheduled to fight Holly Holm on May 8th, but Holm withdrew from the bout due to an injury. This prompted Pena to call out Amanda Nunes for a title shot.
According to Dana White, Pena has also been texting him about wanting to fight Nunes, which the UFC President said could happen.
Fight me @Amanda_Leoa !
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) March 7, 2021
Pena is 6th in the rankings. She could move up if she takes on Holm at a later date or a rematch against Germaine de Randamie. The two fought last October and GDR won via 3rd round submission. That’s a matchup that Nunes even said should happen next, not a title shot for Pena.
Pena became frustrated with Nunes dismissing her and telling her to fight one more time first:
“She’s been turning down a fight for a long time now. I think that her asking me to fight (Germaine de Randamie) again is comical. To me it’s clear as day she doesn’t want to fight me. She doesn’t want to fight a wrestler and a grappler. She’s been fighting nothing but pure strikers ever since she won the belt against Miesha. Stylistically, I’m the worst possible matchup out there for her and she knows that.”
Nunes took to social media and blasted Pena for implying that she’s ducking her. The “champ-champ” stated that Julianna couldn’t even make herself a contender to deserve a title shot.
Pena is 6-2 since joining the UFC in late 2013. Her two losses were to GDR and Valentina Shevchenko. She last fought in January and defeated Sara McMann via 3rd round submission.
Valentina Shevchenko (+200)
Speaking of Shevchenko, the women’s flyweight champ has won six straight fights since her last loss, which was to Nunes in September 2017 via split decision. She also lost to Nunes in March 2016 via unanimous decision.
The reality is, despite having two tough losses to Nunes, Shevchenko is probably the only fighter that the fans want to see Nunes fight next.
It’s hard to argue against this sentiment considering Nunes has practically cleared out two divisions. The question is whether or not they would fight for a title and who would move to what weight class.
Ideally, the dream scenario would be for Nunes to go to flyweight and try to win a third title. That would be mythical if she could.
Germaine de Randamie (+400)
Germaine de Randamie is 7-2 in the UFC since joining nearly eight years ago. As mentioned, she last fought in October 2020 and defeated Pena via 3rd round submission. Her previous fight before that was a title shot against Nunes in December 2019 where she lost via unanimous decision.
Both of de Randamie’s UFC losses have been to Amanda Nunes. The first one came in November 2013 when she first arrived in the promotion.
With two losses, and the most recent one being just 15 months ago, there’s no way that GDR becomes the next opponent.
Holly Holm (+800)
Holm has won two straight fights since losing to Nunes in July 2019. It hasn’t even been two years since that loss and she really hasn’t done enough to earn another title shot so soon. If she can recover and fight Pena then the winner could theoretically be in line for a title shot.
Holm has gone 4-5 in her last nine fights, which also makes it hard to put her next in line for a fight with Nunes. Add an injury to the mix and there’s no way that Holm is next in line.
Claressa Shields (+2000)
This would be an incredible fight. In one corner, you have the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all-time. In the other corner, you have arguably the greatest women’s boxer of all-time.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot working against this dream scenario. First of all, Shields is just getting into MMA and hasn’t even had her first pro fight yet. Second, she signed a multiyear deal with PFL, which means she can’t fight for the UFC.
.@ClaressaShields envisions a future GOAT vs. GWOAT match up against Amanda Nunes 🔮
(via @JalenandJacoby) pic.twitter.com/8Ca756GQ7H
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) March 10, 2021
Third, there’s absolutely no way that Shields could even compete against Nunes right now in the octagon due to her lack of experience. If this was a boxing match then Shields and Nunes could fight, but there’s a great amount of difference in their MMA skills. Too much for Shields to overcome.
What I find hilarious about this betting option is the fact that they only have Shields listed at +2000 odds despite the fact that she’s signed to another MMA promotion.
Lastly, Shields has even stated that she can envision a fight between her and Nunes, but in two to three years.
Who Will Nunes Fight Next?
Aspen Ladd and Irene Aldana are two women ranked higher than Pena in the bantamweight division who could be potential opponents. Unfortunately, they both have lost to fighters that Nunes recently beat.
Ladd suffered her first pro loss nearly two years ago to de Randamie. Aldana lost to Holly Holm last October. Then again, Pena lost to GDR last October and is being considered.
If I were the matchmaker, I would book Ladd vs Pena with the winner getting a world title shot against Nunes in July.
Unfortunately, this prop bet doesn’t offer us the option of “Other” or “Another Fighter.” Instead, the best choice in this prop bet is Julianna Pena despite her not really being worthy of a title shot just yet.
If you insist on betting on this prop bet with the current options then take Pena. For me, I would avoid this prop bet until they add other options.
Who Will Nunes Fight Next? –Julianna Pena (-110)
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
