5 times that Amanda Nunes proved her greatness inside the octagon
UFC 269 goes down this weekend, and plenty of eyes will be on the UFC bantamweight title bout between legendary champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Julianna Pena.
Amanda Nunes is undoubtedly the greatest female fighter in UFC and MMA history. Over the years, she’s proven her greatness time and time again inside the octagon.
Who has two belts, is nicknamed “The Lionness” and still gets called the GOAT? 🏆
It’s women’s champ-champ @Amanda_Leoa, whose title run has redefined greatness inside the Octagon.
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No other female fighter has the same highlight reel as Amanda Nunes. ‘The Lioness’ has defeated a total of six former or current UFC champions during her tenure with the promotion.
So prior to her big title defense against Julianna Pena, here are five times that Amanda Nunes proved her greatness inside the octagon.
#5. Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – UFC 259
Amanda Nunes’ most recent title defense came back in April of this year. She defended her UFC featherweight title against top contender Megan Anderson.
On paper at least, this fight actually sounded like a tricky bout for ‘The Lioness’. Anderson was coming off two victories inside the octagon, one of which was a genuinely brutal one-shot knockout of Norma Dumont.
Standing at 6’0” and boasting a lengthy 72” reach, the Australian was the first opponent in a long time to hold a genuine size advantage over Amanda Nunes. Despite Anderson’s lesser experience, there were genuine questions around how ‘The Lioness’ would deal with her.
The answer ended up being with surprising ease. Nunes didn’t waste any time allowing Anderson to use her lengthy reach. Instead, she simply waded in, landing a pair of right hands that instantly put the Australian on wobbly legs.
From there, ‘The Lioness’ forced her to the ground, took her back and then transitioned into a triangle choke/armbar combination that forced Anderson to submit just over two minutes into the first round.
GOAT STATUS.
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Not only had Nunes dispatched a very dangerous challenger in the first round, but she’d done it with ease in one of her most violent showings to date.