The UFC 197 196 (I'll never get used to typing that) card is shaping up nicely.
The UFC announced on Thursday that a very exciting women's bantamweight bout has been added to the highly anticipated UFC 196 event on March 5.
Fourth-ranked Amanda Nunes (11-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will take on number 11-ranked Valentina Shevchenko (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at the event, with the winner getting one step closer to that title shot against either Holly Holm or Miesha Tate.
Nunes comes into this bout off the back of back-to-back stoppage wins over Shayna Baszler and Sara McMann while this is only Shevchenko's second bout under the UFC banner. However, the Kyrgyzstani fighter impressed in her promotional debut, defeating Sarah Kaufman via split decision in a fight she took on short notice.
With Ronda Rousey's immediate future in the sport in doubt as she focuses more on her acting career this year, Cat Zingano's poor record with injury and Julianna Pena's recent trouble with the law, this fight might decided who will become the next number one contender in the division.
The lineup so far for UFC 196 is as follows:
Rafael dos Anjos (C) vs. Conor McGregor – for lightweight title
Holly Holm (C) vs. Miesha Tate – for women’s bantamweight title
Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor
Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
Darren Elkins vs. Chas Skelly
Jim Miller vs. Diego Sanchez
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Vitor Miranda
Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko
