Norma Dumont saw Kayla Harrison withdraw from her UFC 324 fight with Amanda Nunes in January due to a neck injury and immediately told the UFC she would be more than happy to step in and face “The Lioness” for an interim belt. Nunes shot that idea down, saying she only fights “for the real belt,” and Dumont admits she was frustrated with her decision.
Looking to extend her winning streak to seven when she faces Joselyne Edwards in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 116 this Saturday at Meta Apex, Dumont was originally booked against Yana Santos for April 25 before Edwards stepped in as a replacement. Dumont wishes Nunes had done the same.
“It was a bit frustrating for me,” Dumont told MMA Fighting. “First because I accepted the fight on 10 days’ notice and she didn’t want it, saying she wanted the undisputed belt. It’s frustrating because if she came back just for Kayla, then I imagine she’ll retire after that fight. I feel like there might be some fear of losing. For example, I hear a lot of people telling me, ‘You’re going to fight the No. 11, it’s a very risky fight.’ Man, only people who don’t trust their hands are afraid of risk. I don’t care at all about who they put in front of me. I know my work, I know my level, I know what I’m going to do. The feeling I get is, ‘I don’t want to fight Norma because it’s a tough fight. If I lose, I lose the big fight with Kayla.’ I get it, it’s business. But to me, it feels like there’s some fear of losing to me. That’s how I see it.”
“Because if she came back and did almost a year-long camp like, ‘I’m back, I’m good, I’m this, I’m that, I’m at my best’, how long are you going to wait for Kayla? We don’t know,” she continued. “It’s already mid-year and Kayla still doesn’t have a fight scheduled. There are possibilities for July or August, but [Nunes] could’ve fought in April. I think that would’ve even been good for her because she’d have come back after three years out, gotten a fight in, and then fought Kayla at the end of the year. I think that would’ve been great, but I don’t see it… Every time there’s a chance to match someone with me, I don’t feel like my opponents see it as a good option. ‘No, maybe next time. Is there someone else? Does it have to be now? Does it have to be this one?’ That’s the feeling I get every time.”
Nunes hasn’t fought since June 2023, when she won a decision over Irene Aldana and announced her retirement from the sport as a two-division UFC champion. Rumors of a comeback persisted and Nunes eventually decided to go back for a big fight with former teammate and now-UFC bantamweight champion Harrison. Nunes has said multiple times she’s not back for just one fight, but Dumont isn’t so sure.
Regardless of the Harrison vs. Nunes outcome, Dumont believes the belt could be vacant before the end of the year.
“Even if it’s not vacant, I still don’t think I’m next,” Dumont said with a laugh. “You already see Kayla deflecting the conversation and eyeing Valentina Shevchenko. Come on, are you going to look for a 125-pounder? Someone who walks around at 145? To me there are two possibilities. Since I haven’t seen Amanda interested in fighting me now, I don’t think she’ll fight me later either. To me, Amanda retires if she wins because she only came back for ego, for the rivalry with Kayla, not to become champion again, not to be the GOAT again. I think she came back just for personal beef. I think she retires feeling good, maybe lifting that weight off her shoulders about Kayla holding a belt she still sees as hers.”
“If Kayla wins, there are two possibilities,” she added. “She’ll try to get a fight with Valentina, which is a lower weight class. Valentina is a beast, but she’s small for Kayla. I think Kayla might try to set up a fight where she believes she has the better physical advantage. Or she will retire. I believe that regardless of who wins, the belt becomes vacant right after. Or it might even still be on the line if Kayla wins and gets the Valentina fight.”
The Chute Boxe talent said she has dealt “with so much frustration” getting fights booked in the UFC that her only instruction to manager Alex Davis was to find an opponent, whoever that was, for UFC Vegas 116.
“It’s an opportunity to step into the octagon, grab the mic, be on the media day, put my face out there again, show up, and make my case one more time. That’s what I can do right now,” Dumont said. “The UFC has always tried to make it happen. I see people online sometimes saying, ‘The UFC is screwing Norma, this is bullsh*t.’ It’s not the UFC. They try every time. They tried Raquel [Pennington] last year, they tried the interim with Amanda, they tried Julianna [Peña] — but the answer is always no. Raquel has a never-ending injury. Julianna is like a leap year, she only shows up every four years. The UFC told me the only one in the top 5 who accepted and we could make happen was Yana. And unfortunately Yana got a knee injury and will be out for a while.”
Edwards steps up to the challenge, and does so on a four-fight finishing streak with wins over Tamires Vidal, Chelsea Chandler, Priscila Cachoeira and Nora Cornolle. Dumont praises her as a legitimate threat, but a flawed one.
“Joselyne is a dangerous fighter because she has heavy hands and is strong in close range, but I see a lot of technical flaws,” Dumont said. “I think the matchup favors me a lot because the physical strength she has, I have too. I’m stronger than her, I believe. And I’m more technical both on the feet and on the ground. I know the risks she brings, heavy shots and a lot of strength in grappling, but I don’t see much technical quality that would make it hard for me to beat her.”
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