Amanda Nunes defends featherweight title vs. Megan Anderson at UFC 256

The woman widely regarded as the best female MMA fighter in history is set to return in December.

UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will put her 145-pound title on the line at UFC 256 against challenger Megan Anderson (11-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC). People with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie on Friday following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN. The people spoke on condition of anonymity since the UFC has not publicly announced the matchup.

UFC 256 is set to take place Dec. 12. A location and venue for the event is not yet set and likely will depend largely on the state of the world four months from now, given the global coronavirus pandemic. But the main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims expected for ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Nunes is riding an 11-fight winning streak that dates back nearly six years. She’s been on a tear after the lone loss of her UFC career to Cat Zingano in September 2014. She won the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 200 in July 2016 and has defended it five times.

In addition, she ran through the previously near-unstoppable Cris Cyborg in just 51 seconds to win the featherweight title in December 2018, making her a simultaneous two-division champion.

Unlike other UFC dual champs, Nunes has not had to relinquish one of the belts. Instead, she’s been able to defend both titles. In June, she put the 145-pound strap up for the first time against a gritty Felicia Spencer and won a unanimous decision at UFC 250. It was her eighth straight title fight victory spread out over the two divisions.

Anderson is a former Invicta FC featherweight titleholder, but has had ups and downs since coming to the UFC in 2018. She lost her promotional debut to former bantamweight champ Holly Holm, but picked up a TKO win over Zingano in December 2018 in controversial fashion when the fight was stopped in part because Zingano couldn’t see from an accidental eye poke.

After that win, Anderson fought fellow ex-Invicta champ Spencer and was submitted in the first round. Spencer went on to a title shot with Nunes from that win. But in October 2019, Anderson bounced back with a submission of Zarah Fairn at UFC 243, and in February she knocked out Norma Dumont for her first UFC winning streak.