Amanda Nunes set to defend her title at UFC 213

The next UFC women’s bantamweight title fight is now official as the champion Amanda Nunes is set to defend her title against the #1 UFC ranked women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko.

BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor originally reported the championship bout was in the works on April 22 and it was later confirmed by MMA insider Dizz. Now, it has once again been confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

This will be the second time the two women have fought in the Octagon as they first met at UFC 196 in March of 2016. Nunes won a unanimous decision after three rounds of battle.

Amanda Nunes holds a 14-4 professional MMA record and is 7-1 in the UFC. Nunes first won the UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 200 after submitting then-champion Miesha Tate with a rear-naked choke in the first round. Nunes went on to defend her title against former champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 207, dismantling Rousey on her feet winning a TKO due to strikes. Shevchenko is the only UFC opponent Nunes has gone to a decision with. Her single UFC loss was back in September 2014 where she lost by TKO to Cat Zingano in the third round.

Valentina Shevchenko holds a 14-2 professional MMA record and is 3-1 in the UFC. Shevchenko got a lot of praise after beating former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm at UFC on FOX 20 in July of last year. Although shorter than Holm, Shevchenko was able to get the better of Holm exchanging strikes for five rounds in the main event. Shevchenko then went on to win in another impressive performance against Julianna Pena at UFC on FOX 23, submitting her in the second round with an armbar in her second time headlining a UFC main event fight.

Who are you picking to win this exciting UFC women’s bantamweight championship fight? Will Nunes extend her reign as a dominant champion or will Shevchenko get her revenge and take the belt from Nunes? Give us your prediction in the comment section on how and when this fight ends!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/4/2017.