Megan Anderson plans to return to the drawing board after a loss to Amanda Nunes in the UFC 259 co-main event.
Anderson (11-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) entered the fight as the biggest underdog until the two-division champion Nunes (21-4 MMA, 14-1 UFC) in the fight for the female title on Saturday, at UFC Apex, in Las Vegas. The result showed why, when “A Leoa” advanced with difficulty to a victory by submission in the first round.
Nunes only took a few ticks of the clock over two minutes to hurt Anderson with strokes and then lock an armbar on the floor to finish the job. It certainly wasn’t the performance the Australian challenger expected, but she promised to come back stronger in her first post-defeat comments on social media (via Twitter):
This game has the biggest highs and the lowest lows. This was what we wanted to win, but it is the fight game.
We will be back
There are legitimate questions now about what the future holds for Anderson. The UFC allowed her to fight for the title in what was the last fight of her contract with the UFC, and it is perfectly possible that this marked the end of her term with the promotion.
Anderson has a record six UFC featherweight fights, and little or no one is left in terms of new fights. The division has been in vital support since its inception in the UFC, and it remains to be seen how the UFC boss deals with this, now that Nunes has emptied the line of potential opponents.