5 things you didn't know about Amanda Nunes
UFC 232 ended 2018 with a bang, and perhaps the biggest story coming out of the event wasn’t the controversial return of Jon Jones, but the destruction of the seemingly unbeatable Cris Cyborg at the hands of Amanda Nunes.
The UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion moved up from 135lbs to take on Cyborg – who had held the 145lbs title since July 2017 and hadn’t lost since 2005 – and few expected her to find any success, but less than a minute into the fight, Cyborg was unconscious and Nunes had her hand raised – becoming a double champion in the process.
Dana White has promised that after the event, Nunes will become a huge star, but the truth is that there’s a lot about ‘The Lioness’ that fans don’t really know – so here are 5 facts about Amanda Nunes that you may not have known before.
#1 She has a knockout win over the Bellator Featherweight champion
Bellator might be the UFC’s biggest rival promotion right now, but there’s absolutely no chance that they can claim to have the top female Featherweight under their umbrella. Their current 145lbs queen is Julia ‘The Jewel’ Budd; unbeaten since 2012, Budd won the Bellator title in March 2017 and has defended it successfully twice.
Unfortunately, if you look a little further back on her record, you’ll see something pretty shocking – she was knocked out by Amanda Nunes back in 2011, and to add insult to injury the fight lasted just 14 seconds. It took place in StrikeForce – a couple of months prior to the Zuffa buyout – on one of their Challengers b-shows.
Fascinatingly, alongside Nunes, the same show also featured another two future UFC champions. Daniel Cormier defeated Devin Cole while Tyron Woodley outpointed Tarec Saffiedine in the main event.
It’s that Nunes vs. Budd result which stands out today, though; it’s rare that you come across meetings between future UFC and Bellator champions, and even rarer to find a result as one-sided as this one was.