UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes is defending her gold against Valentina Shevchenko this July at UFC 213.
At the UFC Summer Kickoff Press Conference, the champion got a little physical with her challenger and she explains why.
“You guys never see me do that before,” Nunes said at a UFC 213 media lunch in. “If she didn’t touch me, nothing is gonna happen. Imagine in that situation, a lot of emotions involved, somebody touch your face. It’s not cool. I kind of responded in that moment. It was more than she did to me, but I reacted. You never know, especially how you feel in that moment and somebody talks so much sh*t about you and touches you, your face. At that angle, you guys couldn’t see it that well, but I felt it.”
The two fighters have met before, with Nunes defeating Shevchenko by unanimous decision at UFC 196.
During the press conference, the challenger criticized the champions stamina, which is something the champion is used to.
“I think all of my opponents say that, I gas out or whatever,” Nunes said. “They have to say something about me. I will do my job. I’m the champ for a reason.”
UFC 213 takes place on Saturday, July 8 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
