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Nina Ansaroff stepping away from UFC to have a baby with Amanda Nunes

11th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight contender, Nina Ansaroff, will be taking a break from mixed martial arts (MMA) to focus on being a mom, much the same way Julianna Pena and Mackenzie Dern have done over the last year or so.

She’ll have a little help from her fiancé, current UFC women’s bantamweight (and featherweight) champion Amanda Nunes, but “Lioness” is not expected to take any time off, especially with two division titles to defend.

“Nina’s dream is to be a mother before being a UFC champion,” Nunes told ESPN. “Having a child is Nina’s biggest dream and I’m happy to share it with her. I am looking forward to it. That’s another wonderful time in my life. I’ll enjoy it.”

Ansaroff, 33, recently had her four-fight win streak snapped by way of unanimous decision loss to Tatiana Suarez at UFC 238 back in June. So with no immediate shot at the strawweight title on the horizon, “The Strina” (10-6) likely capitalized on the opening.

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