Target Acquired

Norma Dumont wants a shot at Amanda Nunes and the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s featherweight crown. “That’s my objective,” she told Sherdog.com. “I made that clear with the UFC.” That door may soon open.

The 32-year-old Brazilian will look to improve upon a 4-2 record inside the Octagon when she marches into battle against Karol Rosa in a featured UFC Fight Night 222 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dumont has won four of her five bouts—a split decision defeat to Macy Chiasson serves as the lone blemish—since being knocked out by former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Megan Anderson in her promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 169 in 2020. The setback proved to be a revelation for the Shooto Brazil and Jungle Fight alum.

“My manager at the time didn’t negotiate from a position of strength,” Dumont said. “It’s important to have a manager who has a good relationship with the organization. In hindsight, now that I’m more mature, I can see that it wasn’t a good choice. Megan was much more accomplished, and I lacked experience on an international level. I didn’t expect to be in the UFC so soon.”

The encounter forced Dumont to re-examine her approach.

“I changed my training and fighting style after that,” she said. “I noticed that outside Brazil you can’t just rush in with strikes. If you try that, you’ll get controlled. It’s necessary to train and strategize correctly. I don’t regret it. I truly evolved after facing Megan, especially mentally.”

More than three years later, Dumont sits on the precipice of title contention at 145 pounds. Rosa figures to be a formidable obstacle. The Parana Vale Tudo product has rattled off seven victories across her past eight outings and last appeared at UFC 280, where she was awarded a majority decision over Lina Lansberg on Oct. 22. Rosa, 28, holds other UFC wins over Lara Procopio, Vanessa Melo, Joselyne Edwards and Bethe Correia.

“Karol is very versatile,” Dumont said. “She’s one of the most versatile fighters in the Top 10. She has good striking, takedowns and grappling. She’s strong, and her build is similar to mine. She has good skills like leg kicks and double-leg takedowns, but she’s flawed, too. Watching her fights, you can see a lot of holes in her game that we can exploit.”

Dumont reps Team Rules and trains with husband Johny Vieira. Bruce Souto and Fernando Laurenco de Almeida form the rest of her inner circle, along with manager Alex Davis.

“They all challenge me,” Dumont said. “I enjoy that. In every fight, I bring something new. I always give my opponents something else to worry about. I dedicate myself to sharpening all the techniques I’ll need inside the cage. We study all possibilities throughout the entire fight camp.”

Rosa comes next, followed by a showdown with Nunes in a best-case scenario.

“We’re highly focused on beating Karol,” Dumont said. “Once I defeat her, I want the featherweight belt. We expect that Amanda will defend her featherweight title before year’s end. I expect that by beating Amanda we can breathe new life to the weight class, along with new talent. Until that happens, the division is dead and the UFC won’t invest much into it. I want to carry this weight class.”