Brazilian Amanda Nunes, Empress of MMA
Brazilian Amanda Nunes.
Getty Images via AFP - STEVE MARCUS
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
5 mins
Amanda Nunes defeated Australian Megan Anderson in Round 1 of UFC 259 on March 6, 2021 in Las Vegas.
At 32, the Brazilian outrageously dominates her opponents in the bantamweight and featherweight of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) league in the world.
To the point of being considered the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.
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The numbers speak for themselves.
Amanda Nunes is now 21 wins to four losses in mixed martial arts, since her MMA debut in 2008. The Brazilian is even on an impressive streak of 12 successes at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the most prestigious league of this combat sport.
She has thus defended her belt of UFC bantamweight champion five times and has just defended that of the featherweight for the third time, this March 6, 2021 in Las Vegas.
Above all, it is the way in which "A Leoa" (the Lioness, her nickname) dominates her opponents that amazes.
On Saturday, the one who measures 1.73 m submitted the Australian Megan Anderson in the first round and this after having received only two blows.
If she had to go after five rounds during her two previous outings (against Germaine de Randamie in December 2019 and Felicia Spencer in June 2020), her other opponents were swept away.
The Kyrgyz Valentina Shevchenko?
Defeated twice.
The American superstar Ronda Rousey, ex-champion of judo and wrestling?
Saved from massacre by the referee after 48 seconds.
The Brazilian “Cris Cyborg”?
KO after 51 seconds.
Former world boxing champion Holly Holm?
To the mat after 4 minutes.
She trains with men
Amanda Nunes is she crushing the UFC and even her sport?
“
I do not see who could push Amanda Nunes from her throne,
” confirms Lucie Bertaud.
The French, professional fighter and vice-champion of the world amateur 2015, attended the Brazilian within the American Top Team, a prestigious team based in the southeast of the United States.
"
If she remains constant in her motivation and retains her physical qualities, I do not see who can dethrone her
".
Lucie Bertaud, who plays for Bellator (the second largest MMA organization with ONE FC), remembers an extraordinary champion.
“
At the American Top Team, Amanda Nunes only toured with guys.
We girls never toured with her.
Her size is so imposing, she is so strong, that no girl could turn with her.
Except those really stout like Kayla Harrison, two-time Olympic judo champion.
And yet, even athletes like her saw all the colors.
"
The greatest of all time?
For the UFC, finding opponents capable of deluding themselves becomes a serious concern.
It is already widely believed that she is the best MMA fighter of all time ("Greatest Women Of All Time", GWOAT).
Amanda Nunes, the first woman to be queen in two different categories ("field-field") at the UFC, comes to revolt with men.
Last July, it was with the newly retired Henry Cejudo, also crowned in two divisions at the UFC.
A few weeks ago, UFC boss Dana White proposed that his female superstar give a beating in boxing to the very controversial and provocative YouTuber, Jake Paul (185 cm).
The kind of unusual challenge that does not really match the personality of the person concerned, to believe Lucie Bertaud.
“
This girl is a sun
, launches the one who wrote
MMA, the American dream
.
She doesn't look like that.
She looks tough and aggressive when seen in the cage.
But, in reality, humanly, it is a sun.
She's still joking.
She doesn't think she is more than she is.
She might be pretentious, given her level, but she isn't.
"
See this post on Instagram
A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Amanda Nunes🦁 (@amanda_leoa)
Married to another UFC fighter
On social networks, the young woman displays her passion for sport, reality TV and her little family (she is the mother of a little girl).
Amanda Nunes presents the singularity of being married to another fighter… of the UFC.
Fortunately for Nina Ansaroff, she does not evolve in the same weight category as her formidable wife.
Anyway, the native of Pojuca (northeast of Brazil) should not have long in the world of MMA.
After her victory against Felicia Spencer, last June, she had already hinted at a possible retirement.
Now well paid - her income for a fight exceeds $ 400,000 - the Brazilian could bow out.
Unless she grants a trilogy to Valentina Shevchenko, the only one to have put her in trouble in the past five years.
Kyrgyz currently holds the UFC flyweight belt ...
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