The consensus greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, has been nominated for the Best Athlete in Women’s Sports and Best MMA Fighter at the 2021 ESPY Awards.
The two-division UFC champion in both bantamweight and featherweight, Nunes has undoubtedly been one of the best women’s MMA fighters in history. We’ve had double-weight champions before in the likes of Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier, but Nunes has defended titles in two divisions while holding both titles simultaneously. Other “champ-champs” have had to vacate a division after winning a second belt.
Nunes has successfully defended her featherweight belt twice in her most recent fights against the likes of Megan Anderson and Felicia Spencer. Both fights were almost non-competitive as Nunes dealt with them with ease.
In the bantamweight division, Nunes has successfully defended her belt five times, where she holds wins over five other former UFC champions including Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko (twice), Holly Holm, and Germaine de Randamie (twice).
Nunes is currently on a 12-fight winning streak and has not lost since 2014. For many, it doesn’t seem like the “Lioness” is going to lose any time soon, either, as most fans believe there is currently no real threat to her position at the top of the mountain. Of course, Nunes’ next title challenger Julianna Peña has a lot to say about that.
The only fight most people seem to think would be the most competitive matchup is a fight against the current UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko; however, Nunes has already beaten her twice. This only goes to show how dominant the ESPY nominee is.
In the Best Athlete in Women’s Sports category, the other nominees includes Naomi Osaka from tennis, Simone Biles from gymnastics, and Breanna Stewart from the Seattle Storm in the WNBA.
In the Best MMA Fighter category, all the nominees were her fellow UFC athletes, which includes Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rose Namajunas, and Francis Ngannou.
The ESPY awards will be broadcasted on ABC from The Rooftop at Pier 17 at the Seaport in New York City on Saturday, July 10 starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Do you think Amanda Nunes should win both the Best Athlete in Women’s Sports and Best MMA Fighter at the 2021 ESPY awards?
