Amanda Nunes Thinks She’s ‘Not the Kind of Face’ the UFC Promotes
Amanda Nunes has more than proved her worth as a champion. Last year, the UFC bantamweight title jumped from Holly Holm, to Miesha Tate, and into the arms of the soft-spoken but gritty Brazilian and it hasn’t left yet. The UFC were even able to match Nunes up with Ronda Rousey to take away any doubt who deserved to hold the belt. She passed her test with flying colors as she took Rousey out in less than a minute, successfully defending her title. Despite these achievements, Nunes goes into her title defense against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215 feeling like the UFC doesn’t promote her as much as they could.
“I know I’m not the beautiful girl and I don’t have the blonde hair and the blue eyes. I am not the kind of face the UFC wants to put out there, but I’m OK with that. I’m going to live my life and be happy. If the UFC decides to promote me that would be awesome, but I trust them. The UFC knows what they are doing. If they think they should promote someone else, fine. Just give me the fights and let me do my job and I will be happy. Whatever the UFC decides is fine with me. I’m just a fighter and that’s just what I want to do more than anything else: Let me fight.”
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) September 5, 2017
“The name of Ronda Rousey is No. 1 in the UFC and everyone knows this. I’m not famous like that. I’m a girl who loves to fight, that’s all. When you become a UFC fighter, you know it’s going to change a little and you’ll get a certain amount [of attention], but when you fight Ronda Rousey, they will promote her and no one else. It’s Ronda, Ronda, Ronda and not everyone else. I honestly don’t care in this moment. If they want to promote me, make me a focus, cool. That’s good for both of us and there would be more money for me, of course. But if no, if they don’t want to promote me, that’s cool, too. I have money. I made more money than I ever thought.” — Amanda Nunes to Yahoo! Sports.
In light of these comments and critique of the UFC’s marketing tactics, Amanda Nunes continues her dominant streak and enters this fight week with tons of confidence. She’s sure of herself for good reason, Nunes is on a five-fight win streak and already holds a win over her opponent Shevchenko. You can watch Amanda Nunes attempt to keep her UFC bantamweight title live right here on Saturday.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/6/2017.
Topics:
Amanda Nunes
