UFC: Dana White says Amanda Nunes retiring would ‘probably’ spell end for women’s 145 division

UFC president insists ‘we gotta get on the same page and figure this thing out’ after double champ Nunes hints at retirement

White says he is committed to ‘signing girls’ and building up featherweight division

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Herb Dean raises Amanda Nunes’s arm as she celebrates after her unanimous decision victory over Felicia Spencer at UFC 250. Photo: USA TODAY Sports

Published: 7:19pm, 20 Jun 2020Updated: 7:21pm, 20 Jun 2020

Dana White has already joked that he would “kill” Amanda Nunes if she retired. But the UFC president clearly knows the women’s 145-pound division will be in trouble if she walks away from the Octagon.

Following her dominant featherweight title defence against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 this month, “The Lioness” is taking the rest of 2020 off, with motherhood looming, but indicated this week she could make her absence permanent.

Asked at a media scrum at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, ahead of UFC Fight Night on Saturday night, White indicated the featherweight division would not continue without the Brazilian. The win over Spencer was Nunes’ defence of the belt, 18 months after winning it.

“Probably not,” White said. “I literally just told the guys the other day to build that division up. Let’s start signing girls, start building the division and now the girl is talking about retirement, so apparently we gotta get on the same page and figure this thing out.”

Nunes (20-4), who is also the bantamweight champion, insisted “there’s nothing else to be done right now” and “I’ve achieved everything I wanted”. The 32-year-old has finished every other previous UFC 135-pound champ in the first round, and made history against Canadian Spencer by becoming the first UFC fighter to defend belts in two weight divisions while holding both.