Dumont might be the best contender that no one is talking about right now, regardless of division. While I get that everyone is anticipating Amanda Nunes returning to challenge Kayla Harrison for the bantamweight title in an epic clash at some point, the 35-year-old Dumont heads into her showdown with fellow Top 5 Brazilian Ketlen Vieira on Saturday riding a five-fight winning streak and having gone 8-1 over her last nine fights.
Though she’s bounced between divisions and missed weight a couple times, the list of athletes that Dumont has faced and beaten shows a serious strength of schedule that includes former champ Germaine de Randamie, title challengers Felicia Spencer and Irene Aldana, and tough outs Aspen Ladd, Macy Chiasson, and Karol Rosa. Her win over Aldana last year at Noche UFC (UFC 306) stands out the most, as she dominated throughout and left the indestructible Mexican contender wearing a crimson mask and sporting a gnarly cut in the center of her forehead.
Battering Aldana like that to run her winning streak to five would have probably been enough to merit a title shot in a different time, but with the title changing hands a month after Dumont’s win, Harrison waiting in the wings and ascending to the throne in June, and Nunes announcing her return on the spot at UFC 316, “The Immortal” has is back at it this weekend aiming to take another step closer to a championship opportunity by facing off with Vieira.
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“Fenomeno” has been front and center in the title conversation for the last couple of years, but stumbled in the biggest spots, dropping decisions to both Raquel Pennington and Harrison, who both went on to claim gold in their next appearances. She rebounded from her loss to the current champ with a solid win over Chiasson in May, but the bout had to be shuffled to featherweight to accommodate a weight management issue on her part, which takes a little shine off the victory.
This feels like one of those “nothing left to do after this” type of fights, where a win for Dumont establishes her as the clubhouse leader for the next championship opportunity once Harrison and Nunes get things sorted. It’s a tough assignment, but she’s been more than up to the task of late, and if that remains the case this weekend, more people should be talking about Dumont as a potential threat come Sunday morning.
