Why is Amanda Nunes nicknamed 'The Lioness'?
Amanda Nunes is, without a doubt, one of the most dominant fighters to ever grace the UFC octagon. She currently reigns over the bantamweight and featherweight division of the UFC and thus, is rightly called 'The Lioness'.
But there is a story behind that nickname. After shocking the world by knocking out Ronda Rousey in the first-round at UFC 207, the Brazilian sat down for a chat with the media at the post-fight press conference. During the interaction, Nunes explained how she came to be known as 'The Lioness'.
"My nickname is 'The Lioness' because when I started my career, the gym that I started [at], their logo is the two lions and I'm the only girl training [there] at the time and then everybody at the gym started calling me lioness and I take the nickname and now it's 'lioness champion'."
Catch Amanda Nunes' explanation in the video below:
Amanda Nunes has tore through her competition in the UFC and is currently on a 12-fight win streak in the promotion. The Brazilian has had 15 fights in the UFC and has been on the winning side for 14 of them.
Julianna Pena calls herself the "worst stylistic matchup" for Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes is set to defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena at UFC 269 this weekend.
In the lead-up to the fight, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' claimed she would give Nunes the toughest fight of her life. Pena cited her fights up to this point as the reason behind her belief. During an interview with ESPN MMA, Pena said:
"None of my fights have been pretty. You know what I mean? None of my fights has been this tailored, 'I touch you with my pinky finger and you got knocked out.' That's not the way that fighting is, that's a fairytale. I think that if you go back again and watch any of my fights, you can see that they have been grinding, ugly fights. And anybody that has gotten in there with me has never said, 'Oh, that was just the easiest fight of my life.' They had to work. They had to work for every inch that they got on me. And, you know, that's just my style of fighting. That is why I am the worst stylistic matchup for Amanda."
Catch Julianna Pena's pre-fight interview with ESPN MMA below: