Megan Anderson believes she has the skills to defeat two-division UFC champion and pound-for-pound queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 259 this weekend.
Anderson will challenge Nunes for the featherweight title in one of three title fights on the UFC 259 bill. While she will enter the cage as a gargantuan underdog, she feels well-positioned to pull off a historic upset.
She explained why she’s the woman to beat Nunes during a recent interview with ESPN, the UFC’s official broadcast partner.
"She's a very good hammer, but she's not a very good nail."@MeganA_mma plans to put Amanda Nunes in "bad positions" at #UFC259 (via @Phil_Sports) pic.twitter.com/5ouRWr4FRK
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 4, 2021
“She is a phenomenal hammer, and as soon as she gets momentum, she’s incredibly hard to stop,” Anderson said. “But she doesn’t have a lot of time being the nail and working through being in bad positions. She’s a very good hammer, but she’s not a very good nail. She doesn’t do anything flashy, but it also makes her a little bit predictable, because she doesn’t do anything flashy. She’s very good in that aspect, but she doesn’t do very good when the roles are reversed and she’s not being the aggressor.
“I just have to go out there and do what I do best,” Anderson continued. “I’m very good at trap-setting, I’m very good at deceptive work. My timing’s different than any other striker. I do a lot feinting, a lot of weaving, I do a lot of deception work with my hands, with my legs. I just have to blend it all together like I know how.
“I just hope she doesn’t underestimate me, because what you’ve seen [from me] and what I’m capable of are very different.”
Megan Anderson will enter her UFC 259 featherweight title fight with Amanda Nunes on a two-fight winning streak, having recently beaten Norma Dumont by knockout, and Zarah Fairn by submission. Those wins were preceded by a submission loss to Felicia Spencer, and a TKO win over Cat Zingano.
Do you think she can spring the upset and swipe the featherweight title from Amanda Nunes this weekend?