Following a dominant win at UFC Vegas 29 last month, Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight Virna Jandiroba called for a fight next with seventh-ranked talent Nina Nunes. For the Brazilian, the callout was about manifesting a great opportunity, with as much respect as possible.
After dislocating Kanako Murata’s elbow, and forcing the Octagon-side doctors to intervene and stop the fight in between the final rounds, Jandiroba, 33, was on a major high. She bounced back from her December loss top-six talent MacKenzie Dern and was asked by a media member at the post-fight press conference who she would like to take on next. To which she suggested the wife of current two-division champion Amanda Nunes.
Virna Jandiroba elaborates on June callout of Nina Nunes
“Right now I think it’s time for me to move up a little bit in the rankings. So hopefully I can get a top 10 opponent next time around. Looking at the rankings right now, I think maybe Nina [Nunes] would be the most proper [option]. I respect her a lot,” Jandiroba told reporters.
In a new interview with “>South China Morning Post, the thirteenth ranked strawweight explained her reasons behind suggesting Nunes. And it was less about liking the matchup, and more about the pressure to call shots in an attempt to rise in the rankings.
“Honestly, her ranked position is what attracted me to fight her. It’s not news I want to grow in the division. I deserve to grow and get a top 10 opponent. People kept asking me [for] a name, and I wouldn’t say anything. And people kept saying, come on [sic], could you say something? Because people get fights when they say a name, and so I decided to say her name, and I thought she was a great person to say,” Jandiroba told SCMP. “As well as Michelle Waterson. That would also be a great fight for me next.”
With one fight under her belt in 2021, “Carcara” hopes to compete next in September, as well as get in a third fight at the end of the year.
“I think September would be a good time to fight next,” Jandiroba said when asked about her schedule for the rest of the year. “It would give me a three-month fight camp, which is great. And also give me the opportunity to fight in December [as well].”
Jandiroba is 3-2 in the Octagon with her only defeats coming against ranked talent in Dern and top contender Carla Esparza, in her promotional debut in April 2019. The former Invicta Fighting Championship strawweight champion has scored Octagon victories of Murata, Felice Herrig, and Mallory Martin.
