Just hours before Amanda Nunes’ scheduled rematch against Valentina Shevchenko in 2017, the Brazilian withdrew from the super fight after being hospitalized.
After a comprehensive win over Irene Aldana in 2023, Amanda Nunes decided to call it a day on her UFC profession, walking away as arguably the best female fighter of all time.
Nonetheless, just a couple of years later and ‘The Lioness’ is gearing up for her return to the game after Kayla Harrison became the ladies’s bantamweight champion earlier this yr.
Rumors have surfaced that the massive title fight between Nunes and Harrison will happen on the promotion’s first event of their recent take care of Paramount, which begins in January, 2026.
Who’s the very best female fighter in MMA?
Nunes was hospitalized the morning of scheduled fight before returning with controversial win
Throughout her incredible profession, Nunes has picked up among the most impressive wins in women’s MMA history, and she or he has been involved in some big rivalries.
Potentially essentially the most notable was against fellow great, Valentina Shevchenko. The 2 first met back in 2016 in what was only Shevchenko’s second UFC fight.
The Brazilian went on to win the fight via unanimous decision, handing ‘Bullet’ only her second loss in MMA at that time.
Her win over Shevchenko earned her a title fight against Meisha Tate, through which she went on to win in dominant fashion.
And after Shevchenko bounced back with two wins of her own, she earned herself a rematch against Nunes, who was reigning over the division.
The 2 were booked to fight one another at UFC 213 in 2017, but on the morning of the event, Nunes was shockingly hospitalized with chronic sinusitis and the fight was subsequently canceled.
Fortunately, though, the promotion rebooked the fight to happen just a couple of months later at UFC 215 in Edmonton, Alberta.
After five incredibly close rounds of motion, come the top of the fight fans were split over who they thought won. And so were the judges as two judges scored the fight for Nunes, whilst the opposite judge believed Shevchenko did enough to win the fight.
Will Amanda Nunes’ return be everlasting?
With it seemingly inevitable that Nunes will return within the early a part of 2026 to fight for the title, fans are wondering whether she’s going to only come back for one fight or if her return will probably be everlasting.
Nunes’ return stems from her long rivalry with Harrison, and it seems as if she is simply returning due to the incontrovertible fact that Harrison is the champion, and never because there’s a plethora of fights for her within the division.