Felicia Spencer will be the first woman to challenge Amanda Nunes for the UFC featherweight title. The pair will collide at UFC 250, which goes down on May 9 in Nunes’ native Brazil.
UFC President Dana White announced the news through ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto.
Breaking: Amanda Nunes will defend her featherweight belt against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 on May 9 in Brazil, per Dana White. First defense of the 145 pound belt. And Spencer, whew. She will have fought Cyborg Justino and Amanda Nunes within a span of 10 months. pic.twitter.com/3Tz4MfPjch
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 5, 2020
Breaking: Amanda Nunes will defend her featherweight belt against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 on May 9 in Brazil, per Dana White. First defense of the 145 pound belt. And Spencer, whew. She will have fought Cyborg Justino and Amanda Nunes within a span of 10 months.
Felicia Spencer earned her featherweight title shot with a first-round TKO of Zarah Fairn at last weekend’s UFC Norfolk card. While this victory was impressive, it was not immediately clear if it would be enough to earn Spencer a title shot, as Megan Anderson — another top women’s featherweight fighter — picked up a devastating first-round knockout win over Norma Dumont on the same card, and some fans speculated she might be next for Nunes.
Evidently, however, the UFC decided on Spencer. This choice probably has a lot to do with the fact that Spencer picked up a submission win over Anderson last year.
Prior to her victory at UFC Norfolk, Spencer was defeated by former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, losing a decision after a gutsy performance.
Cyborg lost the UFC featherweight title to Nunes in December of 2018, succumbing to first-round punches. Because Nunes also holds the UFC bantamweight title, this destructive win made her a two-division UFC champ.
Amanda Nunes has not defended the UFC featherweight title since she won it, instead defending the bantamweight belt with a pair of victories over Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie. That will finally change this May, when she attempts to thwart the attack of Felicia Spencer.
Who do you think will come out on top in this newly announced UFC women’s featherweight title fight?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/5/2020.