There’s no doubting that Amanda Nunes is one of the most dominant fighters in MMA today.
The UFC women’s featherweight and bantamweight champion is simply looking flawless. Her last two fights prove that beyond a doubt. She shockingly knocked out women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg in only 51 seconds to win the 145-pound belt at UFC 232. Realistically, nothing in women’s MMA could really top it.
But ‘The Lioness’ did the best she could to follow that act.
Nunes cut back down to bantamweight and knocked out Holly Holm with a first-round head kick at July 6’s UFC 239. That made it almost certain Nunes is the female MMA GOAT.
Moving Back To Featherweight
She’ll look to further solidify that in her next bout. American Top Team (ATT) founder Dan Lambert told BJPENN.com that they are looking for Nunes to defend her featherweight title next. If she does, she’d be the first simultaneous UFC champ-champ to defend both belts:
“Amanda and us at the gym want her to defend featherweight title next. We don’t care who it is against. There have been a few champ-champs but no one has defended both titles, and she wants to do that.
Rumblings have been circling that Nunes will rematch Cyborg in her first featherweight defense. But that seems far from a certainty as of now. Cyborg has a highly-publicized discord with the UFC brewing right now, one that doesn’t seem to have any end in sight. According to Lambert, however, the opponent just doesn’t matter. Nunes simply wants to fight by the end of the year:
“She doesn’t care who it is if it Cyborg if she re-signs or someone else. She wants to defend it by the year’s end.”
Approaching All-Time GOAT Status?
Another win over Cyborg, if it is able to be booked, would cement Nunes as the essential Michael Jordan of women’s MMA. If Cyborg does leave the UFC, things become more complicated. There really isn’t another legitimate title contender at women’s featherweight right now.
Yet in the bigger picture, there’s another, even more illustrious title Lambert believes Nunes is approaching. That’s the title of MMA’s all-time GOAT regardless of gender:
“There is no conversation to be had of who is the best female fighter of all-time. Now, it is about how high she will set that bar. As far as just the greatest fighter of all-time, not even women, she is knocking on that door. Defending both belts would add to that. I don’t see anyone beating Amanda right now.”
Will Amanda Nunes become MMA’s greatest of all-time by defending her featherweight title?
