UFC 259’s championship-filled card to be co-headlined by Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson

Source: John Locher/AP

First booked for UFC 256, the bout between women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Megan Anderson will now be the co-main event of UFC 259.

This pair was supposed to face off in December, but Nunes had to call it off due to health issues. Eventually, talks with both the fighters and the UFC concluded with the fight rescheduled for Mar. 6.

Nunes is currently regarded as the No. 1 pound-for-pound woman fighter in the world. “The Lioness” harbors a 10-fight win streak and is the first woman double weight division champ in UFC history.

This bout will also be Nunes’ first since she became a mother. Nunes’ wife–fellow UFC fighter Nina Ansaroff–delivered their first child in September. Nunes has taken time off to be with her family and will be debuting again in this Mar. 6 bout.

Nunes has not faced much adversity in the Octagon for many fights. Arguably, her last tough fight came in 2017 against now Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. She won a split decision where some say that it should have gone in favor of Shevchenko. Nunes has always defeated challengers in the first round, with longer fights seemingly serving as practice sessions.

Is there a fighter out there that can take down the G.O.A.T of female MMA? Well, the next in line is Anderson.

Although it may seem that Nunes is far ahead of Anderson, she is a tough competitor and great fighter. Anderson sits at 11-4 as a professional fighter and wins by KO/TKO half of the time. She is purely a stand-up fighter, so it will be interesting to see if Nunes gets in the phone booth and boxes or if she mixes it up with the ground game.

Anderson has faced some of the toughest fighters out there. After becoming the Invicta FC Featherweight champion, she moved to the UFC and grabbed wins over Cat Zingano and Norma Dumont. However, she has also been handed losses by Felicia Spencer and Holly Holm, both of which Nunes has beaten.

This bout will also be Nunes’ second time defending the Featherweight title since becoming the champ. Depending on how it goes, it may also be her last time defending the belt.

You can catch this fight in the co-main event slot of UFC 259 on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View at 10:00 p.m. EST on Mar. 6.