Valentina Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes have fought twice before, with Nunes scoring decision wins at both UFC 196 and UFC 215.
There is one thing that Shevchenko would like in the future and that is a third opportunity to fight Nunes.
“I think it would be logical,” Shevchenko said on Hablemos MMA (via Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). “She’s been going through her opponents very easily, and I think that for the future, it would be logical to have a third fight because the second fight … I didn’t lose it. I won it.”
It is unlikely that the third encounter happens, at least in the UFC, as the promotion rarely grants a third fight to fighters when one of them is up 2-0 on the other.
Shevchenko also believes there would be interest in a third fight since this one would be a champion versus champion encounter.
“This fight right now, as champion vs. champion, I think the judges will have a different outlook towards the fight,” Shevchenko said. “Three years ago in 2017 when we had our fight, they thought that just that one thing gave her the victory, and that was the takedown she got in the fifth round. She didn’t even start it – it was me who initiated. But since it was the final round, we were both slippery. She’s heavier, so I ended on bottom when I was supposed to land on top. That’s the only thing that gave her a small advantage in the eyes of the judges that night. But that’s how it went down, and I think it would be very logical to have that third fight between us.”
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