Amanda Nunes is the Greatest of All Time. And her UFC impact is More Than a Number.
Amanda Nunes dominated the UFC for a decade. She may do so again soon. Her visibility and expression of love are just as significant. The post Amanda Nunes is the Greatest of All Time. And her UFC impact is More Than a Number. appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
It took only three minutes and 16 seconds for Amanda Nunes to make UFC history.
On that night nine years ago, in the main event of UFC 200, Nunes made Meisha Tate tap out to become the first out LGBTQ champion in UFC history and begin her stranglehold on the UFC’s Bantamweight division.
Five months later, “The Lioness” would need only 48 seconds to turn away former UFC Bantamweight champion and the face of women’s MMA in the UFC Ronda Rousey in Rousey’s final appearance in the octagon.
Two years later at UFC 232, Nunes etched her name in the record books yet again by sending Cris Cyborg into the phantom zone via an overhead right to claim the UFC Featherweight championship, becoming the first female simultaneous double champion in UFC history.
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Moments like that were enough to clear Nunes’ path to the UFC Hall of Fame — she’ll be inducted later this year — but these accomplishments are simply headlines on a resume worthy of the “Greatest Of All Time” moniker Nunes has earned.
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#OnThisDay in 2018: Amanda Nunes stopped the Cris Cyborg train in it's tracks in 51 seconds to become the Champ Champ
Watch the full fight on @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/v2aQHpXImz— UFC (@ufc) December 30, 2023
Nunes set or tied women’s UFC records for wins, title fight wins, combined title defenses, consecutive wins and stoppage victories between 2013 and 2023. She holds the record for combined title reigns for any UFC fighter regardless of gender at 3,940 days, and that number only stopped there when she became the only UFC fighter ever to retire as a simultaneous double champion in June 2023.
Amanda Nunes returns to the octagon
If that wasn’t enough, Nunes is now poised to add to that legacy as she confirmed her return to the octagon earlier this month with new UFC Bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison square in her sights.
But that statistical onslaught only represents a portion of Nunes’ impact as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in MMA history.
The Brazilian’s journey from regional fight cards in her home nation to the UFC ran parallel with the rising profile of women’s MMA within the historically male-dominated sport. Nunes was among the impressive group of out LGBTQ fighters that emerged in that first wave of female MMA stars alongside the likes of Liz Carmouche, Jessica Andrade, Germaine de Randamie, Raquel Pennington and Shayna Baszler.
In promotions like Strikeforce and Invicta FC, Nunes’ proficiency in the cage helped develop her status as a rising star and contributed to the legitimization of female fighters in the eyes of MMA audiences, media and executives.
(@amanda_leoa)Her drive and skill emerged unmatched as it catapulted her to the top of women’s MMA, but as well-rounded in the cage as Nunes became, it took the connection with her wife, UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and the birth of their children to help her get more in touch with Amanda the person as much as Amanda the fighter.
“I’m already very proud of what I did in the sport. It is very gratifying, I just thank life for having this opportunity. But right now, from now on in my career it will be only for the moments. Moments with my family, with my daughter, moments to be marked with her,” Nunes told ESPN prior to her UFC 259 Featherweight title defense in 2021.
“This moment also serves for me to be able to leave a message for people too. Everyone can have a family. It could be woman with a woman, a man with a man … I want to go up to the cage with my daughter and my wife and show everyone that it’s normal right now.
“I’m a champion. I’m the best ever, and I have a family. I’m gay. I have a family, I can give love to my daughter, give affection, a better life. Putting in people’s heads that we have to stop all that is happening in the world today and give more love to people. I want to show that from now on it will be this.”
Amanda Nunes is one the greatest fighters to ever put on a pair of gloves, but no number or statistic can match the power she has represented by openly expressing her queerness, even as the UFC has increasingly embraced political and cultural figures who openly advocate for queer erasure. In the face of their hate, “The Lioness” holds too much love to be overtaken.
All of that makes her “More Than A Number.“
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The post Amanda Nunes is the Greatest of All Time. And her UFC impact is More Than a Number. appeared first on Outsports.
