UFC News: Latest on Amanda Nunes Retirement, Anthony Smith and Curtis Blaydes

Amanda Nunes' potential retirement looms large over two of the UFC's four women's divisions and a lot of fighters will be paying careful attention to what the Lioness has to say moving forward.

Nunes, fresh off a dominant win over Felicia Spencer to defend her featherweight title, recently dropped a bombshell on the MMA world, telling Brazilian TV show Esporte Espetacular she is considering retirement (h/t MMA Fighting). Her decision could have a lasting impact for fighters in both divisions she presides over.

In other news Anthony "Lionheart" Smith appears to have his next opponent lined up. After a brutal loss to Glover Teixeira he's in for a step down in competition, but whether he got that or not will be up for debate.

Curtis Blaydes picked up a big win in the main event of UFC on ESPN 11 on Saturday and had some words to say that gives a window to what could be next for the heavyweight contender.

Nunes Retirement Could Mean End of Women's Featherweight Division

The women's featherweight division has been tenuous at best since its inception. The division was only created after Cris Cyborg's arrival in the organization, and there has never been a big enough roster to even offer official rankings.

The first title fight in the division took place in February 2017. Less than four years later, the division might be on life support if Nunes decides to walk away.

"Probably not," White said in response to a question about whether the division would carry on post-Nunes, per Dave Doyle and Ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie. "I literally just told the guys the other day to build that division up. Let's start signing girls, start building the division and now the girl is talking about retirement, so apparently, we gotta got on the same page and figure this thing out."

When the division started, Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm fought for the inaugural title. Both of those women have since fought in the bantamweight division. The list of fighters with success who haven't fought at bantamweight is small and includes Spencer and Megan Anderson.

Spencer just lost a lopsided division to Nunes, and Anderson has lost to Spencer, leaving few legitimate challengers for Nunes' title or many options to take her place should she walk away from the sport.

Nunes' departure would also leave a void in the bantamweight division. There aren't many contenders she hasn't already dispatched. However, the roster at least has the size and notoriety to carry on without her.

Anthony Smith to Fight Aleksandar Rakic on August 29

The last time we saw Anthony Smith in the cage, he was mangled by Glover Teixeira in a fight with a controversial stoppage. Smith suffered multiple broken bones before the fight was mercifully stopped in the fifth round.

After fights against Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson and Teixeira, it's time for Smith to tone down the difficulty of his fights, but his next opponent might not offer that. The 31-year-old will see Aleksandar Rakic in a yet-to-be-named event to close out August.

Rakic is not an easy assignment. He just suffered his only loss in the UFC in his most recent fight, dropping a split decision to former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. Prior to that, he carried a 4-0 record in the UFC with knockout wins over Jimi Manuwa and Devin Clark.

Smith has endeared himself to fans with his toughness and fan-friendly style, but he will be entering another dangerous matchup. Rakic is a diverse striker with strong wrestling skills, so he'll have the tools to challenge Smith wherever the fight may go.

This one should be a Fight of the Night candidate and an important bout for Smith if he ever plans on making another run at light heavyweight.

Blaydes 'Waiting' for Stipe vs. Cormier Before Addressing Future

Curtis Blaydes reminded everyone why he has No. 3 beside his name in the UFC's heavyweight rankings. Anyone not named Francis Ngannou has experienced the same fate: takedown after takedown and the subsequent ground-and-pound.

Blaydes took down Alexander Volkov 14 times in a record-setting performance that earned him a unanimous decision in the main event of UFC on ESPN 11. While it was a great performance, it was emblematic of the problem Blaydes faces, which he went into after the event.

The third and final fight between champion Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier is set to go down in August, with each fighter holding a win over the other. However, Blaydes isn't likely to fight the winner. That honor is most likely going to Ngannou, who has defeated Blaydes twice.

That leaves Blaydes in a bit of a no-win situation. If he takes another fight, he will be risking a loss against a lower-ranked fighter yet again. If he waits around to face the champion, not only after the DC-Miocic matchup but the victor's prospective fight against Ngannou, he runs the risk of being surpassed by more active fighters.

Blaydes wanting to see what happens is understandable. He keeps racking up wins in a dangerous and volatile division. But unless both Miocic and Cormier retire after their third fight, he's going to have a hard time earning a title shot any earlier than this time next year.