UFC president Dana White is glad dual champion Amana Nunes is in a good enough place to retire from MMA, but he hopes it doesn’t happen.
Following her historic women’s featherweight title defense against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 earlier this month, Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC) came out and revealed retirement could be in the near future. She said she’s already achieved everything she wants in the sport and doesn’t see any goal or opponent that demands her immediate attention.
Nunes, the current titleholder at 135 and 145 pounds, is one of four simultaneous champions in UFC history. She’s the only one to register defenses while holding both belts and has cleared out all viable contenders. In that regard, retirement seems like a decent path forward, but it caught White off guard when he heard about it for the first time on “The Schmozone Podcast.”
“I will kill her,” White said. “… I literally just told (UFC matchmakers) Sean (Shelby) and Mick (Maynard) in the last meeting let’s get this division built for her. Let’s build this division for her, and let’s start figuring this out. And now she’s talking about retiring?”
MMA is not a sport in which athletes should have one foot out the door, White has said, and he often encourages fighters to step away if that’s on their mind. There are exceptions, though. And with Nunes, 32, very much in her prime, “The Lioness” falls into that category.
“You know what’s awesome about that when you think about it? Her retiring isn’t awesome; that actually drives me nuts. You know how I always say, ‘If you’re talking about retiring, you probably should.’ Unless if you’re where she’s at,” White said. “In this time when I got guys crying about money, one of our female fighters, who could go on and keep doing this for a long time, is saying, ‘Maybe I retire now.’ She’s got plenty of money, and she can do it.”
Nunes has won 11 consecutive fights across two divisions. She said following UFC 250 that she intended to take off the rest of 2020, with her wife Nina Ansaroff expecting their first child in September. Shortly thereafter, Nunes came out with the retirement comments.
Dana White stunned to hear Amanda Nunes considering retirement: 'I will kill her'
