Nothing has gone according to plan for Istela Nunes across her four appearances in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Her 0-4 record says as much.
The decorated 32-year-old muay thai practitioner will set out in search of her first win in almost seven years when she tackles Loma Lookboonmee in a UFC on ESPN 65 women’s strawweight prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Nunes returns to the stage with precious little margin for error. She has not fought since an arm injury resulted in a technical knockout loss to Victoria Dudakova just 34 seconds into their UFC on ESPN 49 pairing in July 2023.