LAS VEGAS – Norma Dumont thinks the UFC would be making a mistake by removing the women’s featherweight division.
Dumont (9-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets Chelsea Chandler (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a featherweight bout on Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 49 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
With former 145-pound champion Amanda Nunes retiring last month, UFC president Dana White said the division, which debuted in February 2017, likely would be retired with her, which Dumont finds disappointing.
“I think that if the UFC does not proceed, not continue with the division, I think it’s going to be a huge loss for the UFC,” Dumont told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 49 media day. “We’re taking this fight thinking that this Saturday, they’re going to see somebody who’s eager to continue, who wants to be the face of this division, and is working for it, and is going to give them reasons to be excited about actually having fights in the future.
“Also, towards the end of the year, we have a former champion of the division that’s coming back. I think there are reasons why they should consider this, and it would be a big loss if they decided not to go with it. They just need to have people like us that are going to show the division and what it’s capable of.”
If the UFC does end up removing the featherweight division, Dumont said she’s already been physically preparing for the possibility of having to continue her career at bantamweight.
“This is some work that’s actually being done with the team as of late,” Dumont said. “My last two weight cuts were actually pretty chill, pretty OK. We actually cut about four pounds or so, exactly planning and anticipating that this could be happening in the future, and if need be, I will be ready to actually chase for that belt.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
