Amanda Nunes’ coach has revealed why “The Lioness” won’t be competing on the UFC 249 card.
Nunes was scheduled to put her women’s featherweight gold on the line against Felicia Spencer on May 9. “The Lioness” later said that she wanted to wait until she had a full training camp. Now, it appears a minor injury has played a role in Nunes’ absence at UFC 249.
Coach Reveals Amanda Nunes’ Minor Injury
Speaking to Combate, American Top Team coach Conan Silveira revealed that Nunes hurt her ankle and didn’t want to rush the title fight (via Google Translate).
“Amanda had a small ankle injury, she preferred to stop and treat, rather than running, because we were at that stage where we didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t know if it would be May 9, where it was going to be, we had several questions and few answers. In the training we were doing before we stopped, she got hurt and we didn’t want to force it. We prefer to stop and treat, for her to be ready, as she always has been, to return as soon as possible.”
Nunes has yet to put her women’s featherweight gold on the line. She captured the title back in Dec. 2018. “The Lioness” can’t shoulder the blame as the UFC has been in the process of building that division. In the meantime, she successfully defended her bantamweight title against Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie.
Nunes has said that she will wait until June to see how she’s feeling before committing to the title defense against Spencer. “The Lioness” is riding a 10-fight winning streak and would like to get her first successful women’s featherweight title defense.
