Dana White: Claressa Shields to Attend UFC 245, Talks with Boxing Star Ongoing

In Dana White’s mind, Amanda Nunes is already the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time.

“One hundred percent. She has destroyed everybody,” the UFC president recently told BT Sport. “Cris Cyborg, so many women feared her for years, Amanda Nunes destroyed her and basically beat her at her own game. She beat Ronda Rousey. She beat [Valentina] Shevchenko twice. She beat Germaine de Randamie. Miesha Tate. The list goes on and on. She viciously knocks people out. She’s a beast.”

It’s an impressive resume, to say the least. Nunes, a two-division champion, will defend her bantamweight crown against de Randamie in a rematch at UFC 245 on Saturday. In attendance will be Olympic gold medalist and boxing champion Claressa Shields, who has been linked to Nunes both in the Sweet Science and MMA. White confirmed that he has been in talks with Shields and her team, and the fighter will be present at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Claressa Shields is coming,” White said. “She’ll be here Saturday to watch the fight. She’s coming to watch the fight, and I will be honest with you, Claressa Shields’ people and I have talked. I don’t know, we’ll see. We’ve talked.

“I know they’re both interested in it, too. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. We have a lot of respect for her, too, and she’s going to come to the fight and should be fun.”

Earlier this year, Shields expressed interest in a transition to MMA. Her presence at one of the year’s biggest events could be evidence that interest has grown stronger. Regardless of what happens with Shields, what isn’t concerned that Nunes will eventually run out of challenges.

“You never run out of opponents,” White said. “Anderson Silva went on a run for a very long time, never ran out of opponents. There’s always somebody. There’s always going to be somebody next.”