Just one fight into her UFC career and Felicia Spencer is already a women’s featherweight title contender. The former Invicta FC featherweight champion had a brilliant UFC debut at its UFC on ESPN+ 10 event in Rochester, New York this past Saturday night. She didn’t even need a full round to dispatch Megan Anderson, finishing her via first-round rear-naked choke. It was about as good of a UFC debut as one can have.
Despite having just one win in the Octagon, Spencer should already be considered a possible challenger for the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship, which is currently held by Amanda Nunes. Although to be fair, that speaks volumes about the lack of depth at 145 lbs in the UFC women’s division. There’s Nunes, the champ. There’s Cris Cyborg, the former champ, who just lost to Nunes. There’s Anderson, who Spencer beat. And there’s Cat Zingano, who Anderson beat. That’s about it. So despite having one win in the UFC, Spencer is arguably a top-three fighter in the weight class, and could be closing in on a title shot soon.
With Nunes tied up with a bantamweight title defense against Holly Holm at UFC 239, there are rumors that the women’s featherweight divison could see an interim title fight created. There are already rumblings that the UFC is planning to have Cyborg fight for the interim featherweight title at UFC 240 this July in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. If that’s the case, then the only fight that makes sense for her is a fight against Spencer, who to her credit has already come out and said she wants the fight. It seems like a formality at this point for the UFC to officially announce the bout.
It’s the perfect situation for Spencer. The Montreal-born fighter is already one of the faces of Canadian’s women’s MMA, and to fight Cyborg in Edmonton for the interim belt would be ideal for her. Yes, Cyborg is a really tough fight for anyone, and it will be by far the toughest test of the 28-year-old Spencer’s career, but with a perfect 7-0 record now in MMA, she has thus far passed every test she’s had to date. There’s no reason to see her failing now. And she’ll be catching Cyborg at a good time, with the former longtime champ coming off of a brutal KO loss to Nunes. Cyborg will be the favorite, but you can’t count out Spencer in this fight.
The UFC women’s featherweight division is shallow, but that helps out Felicia Spencer in her faster-than-usual quest to become the champion. Just one fight into her UFC career and the Canadian is already one of the top contenders at women’s 145 lbs. With her debut victory over Anderson, Spencer has positioned herself nicely to fight for an interim title against Cyborg in her second UFC fight. If she were to win that fight, it could settle up a title unification bout against Nunes. In a shallow division that desperately needs new contenders, Spencer, who is already the face of Canadian’s women MMA, is well on her way to becoming the face of women’s MMA in general.
 UFC on ESPN+ 10 • Megan Anderson vs. Felicia Spencer: Felicia Spencer def. Megan Anderson by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:24 of Round 1.
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 UFC on ESPN+ 10: Dos Anjos vs. Lee (formerly UFC on ESPN+ 9: Dos Anjos vs. Lee) took place May 18, 2019 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.
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