Mayra Bueno Silva and Raquel Pennington have big shoes to fill. The two will meet in the octagon on January 20 at UFC 297 to fight for the women’s bantamweight championship after Amanda ‘Lioness’ Nunes, retired last year.

Whoever wins the title would be the successor of the Nunes, considered the greatest female MMA fighter ever. Nunes was nicknamed ‘Lioness’ due to her fearlessness, ferocity, and strength inside the octagon. And speaking about nicknames, let us look at Silva’s nickname and the story behind it.

How did Mayra Bueno Silva get her cartoon-inspired nickname?

Mayra Bueno Silva is Brazilian, born in the Municipality of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais state in 1991. She moved to the Campinas area of Sao Pauolo where she started her MMA journey. The 32-year-old turned pro in 2015 and showed promise early on.

After only four professional MMA fights in the regional Brazilian circuit, she was invited to Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) two years later in 2018. She defeated Mayana Souza with ease in the first round via a ninja choke and was signed to the UFC off the back of this dominant performance.

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She has a unique and distinctive nickname, ‘Sheetara’, which is based upon the female humanoid-feline ‘Cheetara’ from the cult children’s cartoon series, ‘Thunder Cats’, reflecting her speed and ferocity in the octagon.

Speaking to MMA Junkie about her nickname, she revealed that it was given to her by her coach Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos, who seemingly loved Thunder Cats since he gave all his students nicknames related to the cartoon series. And as she gears up to face Pennington on the UFC’s first PPV event, she is very confident of victory.

Silva predicts second-round KO of Pennington at UFC 297

‘Sheetara’ has predicted a “second round” knockout of Pennington in their upcoming UFC 297 co-main event title bout. The Brazilian seems to have a very low opinion of her upcoming opponent and essentially called her a coward. In a recent interview, Silva said Pennington lacks the courage she showed in her last fight against Nunes.

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“I think she doesn’t want to fight. She doesn’t have courage. She doesn’t like to fight. I like fighting, punching and takedowns. She likes to fight, but she likes to hold [in] fights, she doesn’t like to fight a clean fight. She likes more clinching and this thing, you know?” Silva said on the ‘MMA Hour’ show on YouTube. What are your predictions for UFC 297?

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