Despite having plenty left to give, should Amanda Nunes ride off into the sunset?
There was a time, not that way back, when Amanda Nunes had lapped the sector by such a margin that you simply virtually felt sorry for her opponents when a combat was booked.
These days are lengthy gone, although on Saturday in the primary occasion of UFC 277 on the sold-out American Airways Heart in Dallas, Nunes righted the wrongs and regained her championship by defeating Julianna Peña in a bout that was way more aggressive than it appeared on the floor.
Nunes gained by scores of 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43 to regain the ladies’s bantamweight belt she’d misplaced when Peña submitted her at UFC 269 in December in Las Vegas.
Nunes dropped Peña thrice within the second spherical and was 6 of 8 on takedowns within the five-round combat. Nunes had 11 minutes, 48 seconds of management time within the 25-minute combat and Peña had none. Every fighter had one submission try.
See these numbers on paper and also you get a shrug of the shoulders and don’t give it some thought past that.
However Peña confirmed she’s maybe the hardest fighter within the UFC as she absorbed an unimaginable quantity of punishment however by no means stopped attempting to win. As a result of she did submit Nunes in December with a rear bare choke within the second spherical in Las Vegas, one might by no means look previous her efforts on Saturday.
She tried triangle chokes and a rear bare choke and an armbar and a Kimura. Nunes had nice submission protection and obtained out of them, and that’s one of many explanation why she’s clearly the best feminine fighter this sport has ever seen.
However seven months earlier, Peña reminded us of what was attainable, and so it needed to be at the back of everybody’s thoughts on Saturday within the rematch. Nunes knocked Peña down an unimaginable thrice within the second spherical, however didn’t comply with her to the bottom on any of these events.
Nunes knew. She knew that was the one space that might trigger her issues, although she has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
So Nunes fought cautiously, strategically, and didn’t go to the bottom with Peña till the fourth when she switched her plan and started to grapple extra. And when she did, Peña started to threaten.
The efficiency didn’t get her a lot love from her boss, UFC president Dana White. She didn’t earn a post-fight bonus, as Battle of the Evening went to Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France and the Performances of the Evening had been awarded to Alexandre Pantoja and Drew Dober.
Simply being dominant as she was over a terrific fighter like Peña would seemingly be sufficient to win her, at worst, a Efficiency of the Evening bonus, however White was unusually cool on her effort.
“Two issues: I believe Julianna is hard as nails and her will to win is second to none,” White mentioned when requested on the post-fight information convention his impressions of Nunes’ efficiency. “She needed to win. As dominant as Amanda was, and he or she was dominant tonight, I didn’t assume it was shut any manner, form or kind. It was an entire shutout, however she nonetheless seemed a bit of gun-shy to me.”
White went on to say the best way Nunes carried out when she gained the featherweight title from Cris Cyborg at UFC 232 in Los Angeles on Dec. 29, 2018. She harm Cyborg early within the stand-up and stood her floor and flurried till Cyborg might go on no extra.
However there have been a few variations between that combat than Saturday’s. First, Nunes was preventing a lady who had taken her greatest punches after which submitted her. Even when it had been solely subconsciously, that had to affect her. Extra importantly, the 2018 model of Nunes was 30 years previous. This model is 34 and age is undoubtedly an element.
Now, don’t take that as a suggestion that Nunes is prepared for the glue manufacturing facility, as a result of she’s not.
Nunes can be a married mom now, which is one other issue. Earlier than her daughter, Raegan, was born, all that mattered to Nunes was preventing. However now, she’s obtained one thing else taking a few of her consideration away from preventing.
She mentioned within the Octagon on Saturday that she needs to take a trip and a while away from the cage, and nobody might deny her that. She’s been an lively champion and he or she deserves time away.
There’s thus an opportunity that she’ll be 35 the subsequent time she fights, given her birthday is Might 30. However even when she’s not, she’ll be very near that birthday. Of the 11 individuals who maintain a UFC title at this time (Nunes has two), they’re grouped in age from 28 to 35.
So that will counsel she’s on the again facet of her prime. Now, Nunes is so good, there are solely a handful of fighters who might pretty compete along with her.
Peña, clearly, is one among them. So, too, is flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko, who misplaced a pair of shut selections to Nunes at bantamweight.
However who else? Nunes beat Cyborg in 51 seconds, however a rematch between them isn’t any slam dunk in Nunes’ favor. However Cyborg is now with Bellator and there may be zero probability she’ll ever combat Nunes within the UFC once more. Kayla Harrison is perhaps one who might beat her, however Harrison fights at light-weight, so the one weight she might meet Nunes could be at featherweight, and he or she’s with the PFL, so once more, virtually no probability of a combat between them being made.
So you must marvel what Nunes will assume after a number of weeks of relaxation when she has time to replicate upon her profession. She mentioned earlier than the combat that she needs to combat till she’s 40, and that gained’t be till Might 28, 2028, nevertheless, it’s by no means clever to carry fighters to issues they are saying previous to an vital bout.
Does she survey the panorama and notice there aren’t many fights on the market that make sense? Maybe.
At bantamweight, the highest contender is now Ketlen Vieira. Nobody who noticed her combat Holly Holm would think about her a critical menace to beat Nunes. Who else? Holm? Irene Aldana? Raquel Pennington?
Nunes has overwhelmed most of them and the pickings are slim.
She might come again and defend the title a number of extra instances and rack up a few $2 million or $3 million paydays. That cash, after all, would turn out to be useful.
However there may be actually no combat save a rubber match with both Peña or Shevchenko that will get her blood boiling.
Strolling away because the unquestioned GOAT wouldn’t be the worst factor, although Nunes confirmed Saturday she nonetheless has loads left to provide.
However she’s not a child, and it’s going to get more durable and more durable to hit the extent she did on Saturday.
This one bears watching. It’s no shock if she fights once more, however it might additionally not be a stunner if she walks away wealthy, wholesome and clearly, unquestionably, on prime of the sport.
