Following a disappointing decision loss in January, Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann looks to get back into bantamweight title contention when she battles hard-hitting Brazilian Amanda “Lioness” Nunes at UFC Fight Night 73: “Teixeira vs St. Preux” on August 8th in Nashville, Tennessee.
UFC officials announced the featured matchup on Monday. McMann got off to an excellent start in her UFC 183 bout with former Strikeforce champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate, but faltered as the fight progressed and dropped a close decision. Nunes has earned TKO wins in three of her four UFC bouts.
McMann (8-2-0) kicked off her UFC career in April 2013 with a lopsided first-round stoppage of Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff to earn a shot against fellow Olympic medallist, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. However, McMann’s brief title bid ended in just 66 seconds when Rousey stopped her with a knee to the body at UFC 170. McMann got back on the winning track with a contentious Split Decision victory over Lauren Murphy in August and she nearly finished Tate early in their UFC 183 matchup before giving away the final two rounds.
Nunes (10-4-0) also began her UFC tenure with a quick stoppage of Gaff, and she followed that up by dominating multi-time Muay Thai world champion Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie on the mat en route to her second consecutive first-round TKO triumph. This past September, Nunes engaged in a title contender’s bout with “Alpha” Cat Zingano at UFC 178. Nunes was in complete control in round one, but she fatigued as the fight entered the later rounds and Zingano rallied to secure a third-round finish. In March, Nunes stopped veteran Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler in less than two minutes.
UFC Fight Night 73: “Teixeira vs St. Preux” takes place on August 8th at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Glover Teixeira and Ovince “OSP” St. Preux.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
Great fight and so glad they’re keeping McMann and Nunes busy. I see it as a good top tier fighter (McMann) vs a good 2nd tier fighter (Nunes). I think McMann is too solid and compact for Nunes to do enough damage on the feet, where once McMann takes it to the ground, where Nunes is not comfortable, it will be fairly easy for Sara. Clear decision for McMann, unless Nunes tires, in which case a late stoppage win.
Sara has shown to be uncomfortable on her feet at least twice… so, Nunes got a shot. But I, too, favour Sara (who’s hard hitting herself).
For some reason, I just think we haven’t seen the best of McMann yet. Something about her intensive lobbying in recent months since her loss to Tate tells me she is getting very serious about committing herself to making another run at the title. Remember McMann loudly called out everyone, anyone who would take this fight with her. Very much out of character for Sara, but just the type of lobbying she needs to do to get back into title contention. Nunes is very good, but as we’ve heard, she does tend to gas, whereas an in-shape McMann should be able to withstand Nunes’ early onslaught and come on strong towards the end. Just my thoughts of course.