Nina Nunes will return to action against Amanda Lemos on December 18.
Ranked at #13, Lemos will look to ascend up the women’s strawweight division by leaping over the #7-ranked Nunes. News of the strawweight pairing was first reported by Raphael Marinho with Combate. As of this writing, details surrounding the UFC event on Dec. 18 are still developing. Currently, there is no designated venue or location set, but if those details emerge, All Access MMA will keep you up to date.
Recently, Nunes has struggled to pick up a win in the Octagon but has gone up against some fierce competition. In 2019, the strawweight fought rising contender Tatiana Suarez but came up short in a unanimous decision defeat. Then, the 35-year old was tasked with fighting grappling ace Mackenzie Dern, only to fall short in that outing as well but this time, Nunes was forced to tap to a nasty armbar Dern slapped on late into round one.
Despite the setbacks, Nunes is ready to pick up where she left off in 2018. The American earned arguably the biggest win of her career when she bested former title challenger Cláudia Gadelha in their contest. With two losses in a row, Nunes has her back against the wall and desperately needs a win here to stay in title contention.
Nunes will have her hands full with Lemos who enters the fight with a 10-1 record. Her only loss came to Leslie Smith and came in a devastating fashion. Smith managed to land a couple of brutal standing elbows and hand the Brazilian her first professional loss. Following her first pro defeat, Lemos bounced back big with a four-fight win streak. Impressively, the 34-year old finished three of those four bouts.
With two strawweights on the cusp of title contention, there will be plenty on the line for both athletes. Right now, they are the standalone fight on the Dec. 18 card, but surely in the coming days, that will change with a slew of fight announcements.
Who are you picking to win this strawweight scrap?
