Nina Ansaroff has a chance to break into the top 10 — or even top 5 — of the UFC strawweight division on Dec. 8, taking on former title challenger Claudia Gadelha at UFC 231 in Toronto, but that scenario almost didn’t come to fruition.
Ansaroff lost back-to-back decisions in her first UFC fights in 2014 and 2016, dropping her overall MMA record to 6-5. Amanda Nunes, who was Ansaroff’s girlfriend at the time, said there was a possibility of her pausing her career to get pregnant.
Fast forward to 2018, and Ansaroff, now engaged to Nunes, is riding a three-fight winning streak over Jocelyn Lybarger, Angela Hill and Randa Markos, and now booked against Gadelha.