UFC 250: how do you beat Amanda Nunes? ‘Mixing up the timing, mixing up the rhythm, controlling the range’
- Fighters discuss how they might plot the two-weight champ’s demise
- ‘Lioness’ has looked pretty much unbeatable at both bantamweight and featherweight but Megan Anderson says ‘it’s just a matter of timing’
The stats tell the story of Amanda Nunes and how the Brazilian has become widely recognised as the greatest fighter the world of women’s MMA has seen.
Over the past six years, Nunes (19-4) has gone 10-0 overall as she made the UFC’s bantamweight division her own, while dabbling – and delivering – among the featherweights, going 1-0 and claiming what was a vacant championship belt. Combined, there have been seven finishes from the “Lioness” – and five knockouts – and six of those 10 wins have ended in the first round.
Next up for the “Lioness” comes the rescheduled clash against former Invicta featherweight champ Felicia “Feenom” Spencer (8-1) at UFC 250 on Sunday (Hong Kong time) as the fight world slowly emerges from the global coronavirus shutdown, and fans have been wondering just how the Canadian can break down the greatest of all time.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (18-7) has been left in no doubt as to the 31-year-old’s stature in the sport, having been on the receiving end of first-round submission (rear-naked choke) when the Brazilian stripped her of her crown back in 2016.
“She’s just on another level,” Tate told MMA Junkie last year. “She’s super legitimate. She hits like a ton of bricks.”
Trawl through the Brazilian’s highlight reel and you’ll see wins over hall-of-famer Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey (12-2), and superstars of the women’s game in Cris Cyborg (22-2, one no contest), Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (13-5) and Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko (19-3). You’ll witness a fighter – in the years 2014 to 2020 – fully realising the potential first glimpsed when the BJJ black belt was working her way out of Brazil, and on through the Strikeforce and Invicta promotions.
But there have been openings, and flashes of opportunity for opponents, most tellingly when Shevchenko lost via split decision at UFC 215 in November 2017. That bout saw the champ seemingly unconcerned about taking shots, backing her tactical nous to pick up the points needed for victory.
That mindset was there again most recently against Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie (9-4) at UFC 245 last December, as Nunes seemed willing to absorb the Dutch slugger’s assaults – rather than dodge them – fully confident her return fire would be enough to win. Which it was. Again.
But the last time Nunes lost it was because this game plan fell apart – completely – as she was overpowered by Cat “Alpha” Zingano (10-4) at UFC 178 in September 2014 in what has so far proved to be the highlight win of the American’s decade in the cage. Zingano was able to land heavy strikes, get Nunes down, and pummel her from above when she did.
“It was the first fight back after losing my husband and coach to suicide and having a completely different camp – and having no idea what I was going to do with myself now that there’s a new normal,” Zingano told MMAJunkie in 2018. “She had everything in her favour that fight. Everything in her favour ... and I still broke her.”
So it seems there is hope, after all.
It was rising Australian featherweight star Megan Anderson (11-4) who effectively brought Zingano’s UFC career to a close (Zingano has since been released from the organisation and signed by Bellator). The 30-year-old Aussie has back-to-back wins in the UFC for the first time since signing on in 2017 – and she has Nunes in her sights.
“She’s an incredible athlete,” Anderson told the Post. “Physically she is very strong. She’s brings a lot of power and she is very well rounded.”
Anderson has also been through the tapes, and believes she has found hope when it comes to those – like her – who must go through Nunes to grab a title.
“Germaine de Randamie had a lot of success in the clinch,” Anderson said. “Amanda is very aggressive with her fighting style and her will to win is strong. She has power, crisp striking but she also has that ability to brawl. She’s got that dog in her, man, and she’s willing to throw down and swing. For the most part she throws with bad intentions on every single thing she throws. She commits on everything which is great. So it’s just a matter of timing, of just waiting for maybe that one opportunity when she is committed, and mixing up the timing, mixing up the rhythm, controlling the range. I’m thinking that’s where you can get in there and you can do your best work.”
