Women’s Bantamweight Championship
(C) Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (18-5-0) vs. #4 “The Lioness” Amanda Nunes (12-4-0)
Miesha Tate fought a long road to the top of the Women’s Bantamweight division, and now gets to reap the benefits of those efforts by being showcased in a major main event on the biggest UFC card of all-time, but she has a real test in front of her in Amanda Nunes. My biggest fear since Ronda Rousey lost the title to Holly Holm was that once Rousey’s dominance was ended, the belt would begin to resemble “Hot Potato”, and the credibility of the division may take a hit, and that fear began to take hold when Holm succumbed to Tate. Now, heading into Saturday night, Tate will need to push the pace (something she’s very good at), and push Nunes’ cardio, as Nunes will be in uncharted territory in a five round contest. Despite outlasting Valentina Shevchenko in her last fight, Nunes’ reputation is one of either winning quickly or losing, often coming out strong in round one and fading after that. If she continues that trend Saturday night, she stands no chance, as Tate is too tough to be taken out early, and Tate’s already shown the ability to endure for five rounds and continue her uptempo attack. Nunes will need to have improved her cardio, and will need to get the better of “Cupcake” on the feet in order to have a shot at upsetting the champion.
Prediction: Miesha retains the title and awaits the winner of (hopefully) a Holm/Rousey rematch down the line.
