Morning Report: Michael Bisping wants to see Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3 for ‘Female BMF title’ at 130 pounds

Michael Bisping hopes the UFC books Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3, but he wants some special hardware to be up for grabs.

This past Saturday, Amanda Nunes reclaimed the women’s bantamweight title with a dominant decision win over Julianna Peña at UFC 277. The win re-established Nunes as the greatest female fighter of all time and returned her to double champ status.. Afterwards, the question quickly turned to what’s next for Nunes, and one name seems to have taken the lead: Valentina Shevchenko.

Shevchenko and Nunes have fought twice before, both at bantamweight, with Nunes winning close decisions in both fights. Following their second meeting, Shevchenko dropped down to 125 pounds, where she won the title and has established herself as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Over the past couple of years, as both Nunes and Shevchenko have dominated their divisions, fans have clamored for a trilogy fight between the two and following UFC 277, Nunes said she was game, as did UFC President Dana White. UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping is on board as well, but given the special circumstances, he would like to see the UFC do something equally as special.

“I would love to see [a third fight],” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “I talked about this a while ago on the channel, I would love to see Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko at 130 pounds, for a female BMF title. They did it for the guys and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let’s have a female BMF. Valentina comes up to 130, Nunes comes down to 130, if she can, and that would be the big thing: if she can.”

There’s one big impediment to a trilogy right now though, and that’s Peña. Though “The Venezuelan Vixen” just received a brutal beating from Nunes on Saturday, the now-former champion is keen to get another shot at the belt, calling for a trilogy fight once she’s healed up. With Peña and Nunes split at one win apiece, while Nunes already has two wins over Shevchenko, a 135-pound title trilogy may make more sense than a 130-pound superfight. And Bisping even acknowledges that at some point, they need to run back that fight as well.

“Now obviously there would be talk that because they are one apiece, there should be a rubber match, and technically that’s probably true,” Bisping said. “Will we see one? I don’t know, because it was a dominating performance. So I’m not sure if there is grounds for it — but actually, no. I’m wrong. It’s one apiece, so they should do a rubber match and put that to be one and for all.”

Fortunately, the choice may be made simple as following UFC 277, Dana White said that Peña is headed for surgery and that he wants to give her ample time to recover from the beating she took. If Peña is sidelined for awhile, that could open the door for Shevchenko to step in, unimpeded.

Results. Amanda Nunes and Brandon Moreno reclaimed gold with wins at UFC 277.

Response. Amanda Nunes responds to Valentina Shevchenko after UFC 277: ‘She lost her last fight’.

Trilogy. Julianna Peña calls for trilogy against Amanda Nunes in first statement after UFC 277 loss.

Comparison. Conor McGregor compares Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena rivalry to his epic wars against Nate Diaz.

Controversy. Sergei Pavlovich and Dana White disagree on controversial stoppage of Derrick Lewis at UFC 277.

Cancelled. Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. card cancelled after Rahman Jr. unable to make weight.

UFC 277 Post Show.

UFC 277 Post Fight Press Conference.

Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski react to UFC 277, cageside.

Doctor reacts to UFC 277 injuries.

On To The Next One. Matches to make following UFC 277.

Statement.

Reactions.

Jiri Prochazka subtweeting Magomed Ankalaev.

Chael Sonnen on boxing.

Conor.

OUCH.

Fight week.

Edson Barboza (22-11) vs. Ilia Topuria (12-0); UFC Fight Night, Oct. 29.

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

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