Amanda Nunes

The Lioness

Amanda Nunes is the most decorated women's mixed martial artist in history. She is the first woman to simultaneously hold UFC titles in two weight divisions — bantamweight (135 lbs) and featherweight (145 lbs) — and the only fighter, male or female, to finish Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Miesha Tate, and Holly Holm. All four of those finishes came inside one round.

She held the UFC women's bantamweight title from July 2016 to December 2021 (lost via upset to Julianna Peña at UFC 269), regained it in July 2022 (vs Peña, UFC 277), and permanently retired after defending it against Irene Aldana in June 2023. The featherweight title she held from December 2018 (knockout of Cris Cyborg) until her retirement.

The signature performances

• vs Miesha Tate (UFC 200, July 2016): Won the title by rear-naked choke at 3:16 of round 1.
• vs Ronda Rousey (UFC 207, December 2016): TKO at 0:48 of round 1, ending Rousey's career. Nunes blitzed Rousey with rear hands from the opening bell and the bout was never competitive.
• vs Cris Cyborg (UFC 232, December 2018): KO at 0:51 of round 1, claiming the featherweight title from the most feared striker in women's MMA. Nunes won the exchange with a right hook to the temple that dropped Cyborg, then followed up with ground-and-pound for the finish.
• vs Holly Holm (UFC 239, July 2019): KO via head kick at 4:10 of round 1 — a switch left high kick that landed flush.
• vs Germaine de Randamie (UFC 245, December 2019): Unanimous decision over five rounds, the rare Nunes title fight that went the distance. De Randamie was the only featherweight contender who survived the opening rounds.

The style

Nunes's style is built on three pillars:

• First-round power: rare in women's MMA, Nunes carried legitimate one-punch knockout power in both hands. The right hook off the lead jab finished Cyborg, Rousey, and Holm in combinations of two or three punches.
• BJJ black belt grappling: trained out of American Top Team under Conan Silveira, Nunes was a legitimate submission threat from any position. The Miesha Tate finish was a clean rear-naked choke from a body-lock takedown.
• Iron chin and forward pressure: Nunes was almost never on the back foot. Her one-punch power and her willingness to walk through punches to land her own made her exchanges asymmetric — opponents had to defend her offense while Nunes seemed unconcerned with theirs.

The Peña upset and the rematch

The December 2021 loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 was the upset of the year and a moment of genuine vulnerability in Nunes's career. Peña, an Ultimate Fighter winner who had been a solid bantamweight contender, won by rear-naked choke in round 2 after weathering Nunes's opening pressure and capitalizing on a tired Nunes who appeared to gas in round 2 — itself a first in her career. Peña's wrestling pressure and a perfectly timed scramble into back control produced the finish.

The rematch at UFC 277 in July 2022 went the opposite direction. Nunes adjusted her training, reportedly emphasizing cardio and weight management, and dominated the rematch for five rounds — a unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45) where she dropped Peña multiple times and outwrestled her on the ground.

The retirement

Nunes announced her retirement after a successful defense of both belts (or technically just the bantamweight, with the featherweight belt vacated) against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023. She won via unanimous decision in a measured performance that suggested the desire to fight was fading more than the ability. She vacated both titles and committed to retirement, family life in Florida, and gym ownership.

The case for the GOAT

In mixed martial arts, the "greatest of all time" argument is always sensitive to sample size and era — and women's MMA has been a major UFC division only since 2013. But within that frame, Nunes's case is overwhelming. She finished every champion she fought, in both divisions she held, with strikes in the opening minutes of the first round. She unified the featherweight and bantamweight titles, defended them across two different reigns, and retired with the choice to walk away on her own terms. No other woman in MMA history has a résumé that comes close.