White interested in finishing Nunes-Shevchenko trilogy after UFC 277

UFC president Dana White signaled interest in completing Amanda Nunes' long-awaited trilogy with Valentina Shevchenko after Nunes roared past Julianna Pena to regain the bantamweight title at UFC 277.

"That's not a bad idea," White told reporters at his post-event press conference. "Normally I would say, 'Come on, man.' That's not a bad idea when you think about it. I'm not saying yes, I'm just saying it's not a bad idea."

Nunes battered Pena en route to a 50-45, 50-44, 50-43 decision, restoring her status as a two-division champion and an all-time great UFC fighter. She avenged her shocking loss to Pena, who submitted her in December to take the 135-pound belt.

Nunes met Shevchenko for the first time in 2016, and won via unanimous decision. "The Lioness" took on Shevchenko again in 2017, and took a controversial split decision. Both fights took place at bantamweight, and White has appeared reluctant to book a third matchup since Shevchenko went down to flyweight.

Shevchenko, the UFC's flyweight champion, has lost only one other fight in her professional career, and is 23-3 overall. She's defended her 125-pound belt seven times.

While White seemed open to a Nunes-Shevchenko trilogy, he appeared less interested in a third straight bout between Nunes and Pena.

"(Pena) needs to take some time off and relax, spend some time with her daughter, and then we'll go from there," he said.

White added that Pena went to see a plastic surgeon after dropping the title to Nunes, and said the "Venezuelan Vixen" had "a big chunk missing from her forehead."

Nunes, for her part, also seemed ready to move on from Pena and welcomed a third fight versus Shevchenko.

"That would be awesome," she said.