#Felicia Spencer can leave UFC 250 a legend with Amanda Nunes shocker

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Feliciia Spencer (left) in her only career loss against Cris Cyborg
Zuffa LLC

Take a deeper look at Felicia Spencer before looking past her.

Spencer (8-1), seemingly the next victim of Amanda Nunes’ five-year win streak, will attempt to pull the massive upset and become the women’s featherweight championship at UFC 250 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Spencer will be featured in the main event of a pay-per-view for the first time. She will be a heavy underdog ( 475). She will arrive as an unknown.

She could leave a legend.

“It’s surreal and it takes a lot to sink in to see I’m headlining a card,” Spencer told BJPENN.com. “But, I’m so focused on what I need to do and all the extra stuff I just take in stride. I’m honored to be in the position I’m in.”

“I love being the underdog. The more people who doubt me does not impact me in any way. If anything it gives me more motivation to perform. I also have no pressure on me so I’m ready to shock the world. This is also not my first time being a massive underdog and probably won’t be the last. Upsets happen all the time and I’m ready to pull off a big one.”

Born in Montreal, and raised in Florida, Spencer, 29, won her first seven professional fights, before suffering her only loss to Cris Cyborg on July 27 by unanimous decision. Cyborg faced Nunes (19-4) seven months earlier, seeing her 13-year win streak end when the latter scored a knockout 51 seconds into the match.

Preparing for Nunes — who also is the bantamweight champion — may be the greatest challenge of her career, but Spencer is far more comfortable entering the latest version of the biggest fight of her career.

“I definitely see the resemblance,” Spencer told MMA Fighting. “[Cyborg] did feel like a title fight….Media, even afterwards, were like, ‘losing to the champion’ or mentioned that it was five rounds and I had to remind them it wasn’t a championship fight….

“I think that the experience just adds to the repertoire. I’ve been through some of the buildup and now it’s actually a little bit less because of the restrictions with media and stuff. It’s less invasive, less stuff going on. I feel like I was so lucky and happy to be given the opportunity to have such a high placement on the card last summer with Cyborg, having the big stage, and now it’s kind of all happening again but this time in the main event, which was super unexpected at first….I just kind of take the news and then move on. My number one focus is just beating Amanda and then everything that comes after will come after and I’ll enjoy it then.”

Nunes, 32, has won 10 straight fights, dating back to September 2015. That’s just when Spencer made her professional debut with Invicta FC, where she won the featherweight title. Spencer, who married fighter Todd Coppinger in December, most recently beat Zarah Fairn with a first-round TKO in February.

“Especially since I turned pro, but even before then, the opportunities just escalate quickly,” Spencer told MMA Fighting. “My amateur career started off slow. It was really tough to get fights, then all of a sudden I had a few wins and I got called to Vegas to fight in the Tuff-N-Uff tournament, which was a huge deal and such a big thing back then. And then Invicta.

“Really, every year I look back it’s milestones. People are just saying the same thing, ‘Wow, it’s crazy, you’ve done this and this, it’s a crazy year.’ Yeah, every year I look back and it’s a crazy year so it’s kind of the same as usual. The opportunities are incredible and mind-blowing but I feel like this every year, so we’ll see what happens next year.”

What happens Saturday can alter UFC history.

“A win is huge. I don’t think her legacy falls apart from losing to me or does it make me become the GOAT,” Spencer said. “But, it just starts to build my legacy. I already have some accomplishments in the sport and this would be a huge one.”