"She can do whatever she wants" - Dana White on Amanda Nunes leaving ATT to start her own gym
Dana White believes Amanda Nunes has the resources to start her own gym. Furthermore, he doesn't think the women's featherweight champion had an acrimonious split with American Top Team (ATT).
Nunes recently parted ways with the Coconut Creek-based team she's trained with since 2014. She now wants to establish her own facility.
During an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto, White called the Brazilian "one of the sweetest human beings on the planet" and said she has the money to do whatever she wants:
"I haven't talked to her yet but Amanda Nunes is one of the sweetest human beings on the planet. I'm just assuming that it wasn't a bad break. If she wants to open her own gym, which I'm sure Dan [Lambert] is thrilled about and happy for her as anybody would be, I'm sure that's what it would be... I haven't heard anything otherwise that there's any kind of bad blood there or there's any beef... You know I'm sure she's just opening her own gym, she's got a lot of money. She can open her own gym and she can do whatever she wants."
Nunes' split with ATT comes on the back of her defeat to Julianna Pena at UFC 269. It was her first loss since joining the gym, snapping a 12-fight win streak.
Check out Dana White's interview with Brett Okamoto below:
Jorge Masvidal comments on Amanda Nunes' departure from ATT
Jorge Masvidal stated that the loss of Amanda Nunes was a big blow to ATT. The 37-year-old talked about the progress made by Nunes during her stint at Coconut Creek and wished her the best moving forward.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Masvidal shared his thoughts on Nunes' time at the gym:
"To see her progress is amazing. To see her progress under American Top Team, my same gym, [it's] like wow! I never worked out with her or sparred or anything but to some extent, the journey that she had was like shared with me. It just definitely hurts not to have her there I think. But man, I'm just always wishing the best for her. She's going to do her own thing... Obviously it hurts and obviously I want her [to stay] at American Top Team and I think we all do, we all love her. So it's like a... it's a devastating blow."
'The Lioness' has her sights set on reclaiming the bantamweight title and is expected to get another crack at Pena. White expects the rematch to be the biggest women's fight in UFC history. There is currently no official date for Nunes-Pena II.
Check out Jorge Masvidal's interview with Ariel Helwani below: