Sara McMann wants Julianna Pena or Valentina Shevchenko next, talks division upheaval

Sara McMann was in Las Vegas during International Fight Week and present during the UFC 200 ceremonial weigh-ins at T-Mobile Arena. The UFC women’s bantamweight contender heard the crowd boo when, in a promo, UFC president Dana White called Miesha Tate “the baddest woman on the planet — except for Ronda Rousey.”

McMann was pretty surprised. Tate was about to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes in the main event of what was supposed to be the biggest card in UFC history.

“I heard that and I kind of like winced a little bit — I was like, oh, ouch,” McMann told MMA Fighting. “That’s not really something very inspiring for the girl who is going out there. That’s like saying, ‘Oh Sara, she’s a great fighter, but she lost in the Olympic finals.’ It takes a little bit off of your momentum. [Tate] earned that title. She did what Ronda couldn’t do. She beat Holly [Holm]. Ronda was losing the striking game also. Miesha didn’t get kicked in the head and knocked out. And she took her down and submitted her. Don’t take that away from Miesha. She did something pretty f*cking miraculous considering she was losing that fight. To be down in the fifth round, do you know what it takes to lose to somebody for freakin’ five rounds and still have enough belief in yourself to turn around and win?”

Of course, the division continued to shift 24 hours later. Nunes beat Tate via first-round submission to win the belt at UFC 200. On that same card, Julianna Pena beat Cat Zingano in her best performance to date to put her name on the list of title contenders. And, two weeks later, Valentina Shevchenko pulled off an …

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