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Kurt Angle seems to be in awe of former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey's immensely successful transition to the world of pro-wrestling with WWE. After being inducted into the UFC Hall-of-Fame in 2018, 'Rowdy' joined WWE, going on to make her debut at WrestleMania 34.
Since then, she's gone on to become the Raw Women's Champion, competed in the first-ever WrestleMania main event featuring women, and won this year's Women's Royal Rumble. After watching Rousey's success in WWE, Kurt Angle feels that her former opponent Amanda Nunes, too, can make the transition.
Having said that, Angle reiterated that Rousey is a pioneer in women's MMA and without her, we wouldn't get to see the likes of Amanda Nunes inside the octagon. During an interaction with The Schmo, the former Olympic gold medalist wrestler said:
"Seeing Ronda Rousey do it, I'd say Amanda Nunes [could successfully transition to WWE]... Ronda Rousey's the pioneer, okay, she started, she made it popular [and] if it wasn't for Ronda Rousey, there wouldn't be an Amanda Nunes."
Check out the interview below:
Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes locked horns in the main event of UFC 207 back in 2016. Nunes violently knocked Rousey out inside the first minute of the opening round of the fight. This was the last time 'Rowdy' ever stepped inside the octagon.
Nunes later went on to become the first female two-division champion in the promotion's history.
Amanda Nunes' coach reveals timeline for her UFC return
After a dominant run as female champ-champ, Amanda Nunes lost the bantamweight title to Julianna Pena at UFC 269 in what's being regarded by many as one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Nunes lost the fight via submission in the second round.
'The Lioness' is eager to recapture the title when she runs it back with 'The Venezuelan Vixen' down the line. Nunes and Pena are expected to have a rematch later this year, but the promotion is yet to make the matchup official.
According to Nunes' new coach Balbino Junior, the Brazilian is likely to return to the octagon in July or August. During an appearance on MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, Junior said:
"Since we’re doing TUF and I think the finals will be on the same day of the Julianna fight, I believe this fight it’s probably happening around July or August." [Translation courtesy - MMA Fighting]
