Widely regarded as one of the greatest female mixed martial artists of all time,[12][13] Nunes is the first and only woman to become a two-division UFC champion, and the third fighter to hold UFC titles in two weight classes simultaneously, after Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier. She is also the only fighter in UFC history to defend two titles in two different weight classes while actively holding them simultaneously. [14][15][16]
Early life
Nunes was born on May 30, 1988, in Pojuca, a small town outside of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She has two older sisters. After her parents split up when she was four, Nunes and her sisters remained with their mother. To support the family as a single parent, her mom sold hot dogs, sweets and beauty products alongside her regular job as a school administrative assistant. According to Nunes, her father initially did not support her fighting career, but has since changed course.[17][18][19]
Nunes has described her mother as a loving but strict parent. She encouraged Amanda to get involved with sports as a way to deal with her excess energy.[20]
Nunes initially aspired to become a professional soccer player, starting out in elementary school as a player on the local Pojuca team and later on the Salvador team. Eventually, she got the opportunity to try out for the Vitória football club, but was unable to accept due to her mother wanting her to focus on studies instead.[20]
Martial arts training
Nunes's uncle, was a Vale Tudo fighter. Her mother, who herself regularly trained boxing, cornered him during his fights. Nunes first attended capoeira classes at age five, after her school teacher complained that she was too hyperactive in class. She started learning karate at age seven.[21][22]
My mother used to box, and I followed her footsteps into training. She loves fighting. My uncle used to fight Vale Tudo, and my mother even cornered him in some of his fights. She always says, ‘the first strike has to be yours. She can’t touch you before you touch her. You have to intimidate her.’
At the age of 16, following her sister Vanessa's invitation to a dojo, she began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. At this time, she also got involved with boxing. Despite being the only woman at the gym, she soon started dominating her training partners in sparring. After she had defeated all of her opposition, at age 17, she moved to Salvador to train at the Edson Carvalho academy under the tutelage of his brother, Ricardo Carvalho. There, she also started training in judo.[20] She lived at an apartment with her sister, but because it was too far away from the gym, she accepted her coach's offer to move there. Because she was the only girl, and because the logo of the academy are two lions, her coach and other students started calling her "Leoa" (lioness in Portuguese), a nickname she still uses.[20]
I slept on the mat, I woke up at about 4:30 am to clean the whole gym with the coach. There were some other athletes who lived in the gym as well, but there was only me as a woman. We woke up very early to leave the gym clean for the first jiu-jitsu class, which started at 6 am. I used to live there, so why not help the coach? That is also a part of fighter's life. [...] Today, when I look back, I think it was very worthwhile to go through all of this. I really liked living at the gym, because it was facing Porto da Barra, facing the sea, so I trained, took a shower, went for a walk on the shore, stayed there. It was perfect for me.
— Amanda Nunes
Nunes soon started competing in BJJ tournaments. Among her biggest accomplishments in this sport are gold medal at the Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2008 as a blue belt, gold medal at World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2009 as a purple belt and becoming a world champion of the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) in the lightweight and absolute divisions in 2012. She currently holds a black belt in BJJ and a brown belt in judo.[22]
Mixed martial arts career
Nunes made her professional debut on March 8, 2008, at Prime MMA Championship 2. She faced Ana Maria and was defeated by armbar submission in the first round.[23]
Nunes fought Alexis Davis on September 10, 2011, at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov. She lost the fight via TKO late in the second round. In the first round, Nunes started strongly with heavy strikes, but quickly faded. By the second round, Nunes was exhausted from the start of the round. While attempting a takedown she was instantly reversed and Davis was able to obtain full mount to finish Nunes with strikes.[27]
Nunes was scheduled to face Milana Dudieva at Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann on July 28, 2012.[30] Dudieva withdrew from the fight due to illness on July 9 and Nunes was then scheduled to face Leslie Smith instead.[31] Smith also withdrew due to an injury and Nunes ultimately faced Raquel Pa'aluhi.[32] Nunes won the fight via technical submission due to a rear-naked choke in the first round.[33]
Nunes faced Cat Zingano on September 27, 2014, at UFC 178.[47] After nearly finishing Zingano with punches in the first round, she lost the next round before being finished via TKO in the third round.[48]
Nunes faced Sara McMann on August 8, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 73. She won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round, after knocking her opponent down with a three punch combination.[50][51]
Nunes faced Valentina Shevchenko on March 5, 2016, at UFC 196. She won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–27, and 29–27).[52]
Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion
After amassing a three-fight win streak, Nunes earned her first title shot in the UFC. She faced Miesha Tate for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship on July 9, 2016, at UFC 200. Nunes stunned Tate early on with knees and punches and then won the fight by submission (rear-naked choke) in the first round.[53] Her victory made her the first openly gay UFC champion.[54][55]
On December 30, 2016, Nunes made her first title defense against returning MMA superstar Ronda Rousey in the main event at UFC 207.[56] Nunes won the fight via TKO due to punches 48 seconds into the first round.[57][58]
For her second title defense, Nunes was scheduled to face Valentina Shevchenko in a rematch at UFC 213 on July 8, 2017. The pair originally fought at UFC 196, with Nunes winning by unanimous decision.[59] Nunes was hospitalized the morning of the fight with chronic sinusitis and the fight was cancelled.[60]Joanna Jędrzejczyk offered to replace Nunes, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission could not clear her on such short notice.[61] Nunes instead fought Shevchenko at UFC 215 on September 9 in Edmonton, Alberta.[62] Nunes won the closely contested fight by split decision.[63] Out of 22 media outlets, 10 scored it for Nunes, 10 for Shevchenko, and 2 scored it a draw.[64]
Nunes faced Raquel Pennington on May 12, 2018, at UFC 224.[65] After a dominant performance, Nunes won the fight via TKO in round five.[66] This was the first UFC event headlined by two openly gay fighters.[67]
Nunes moved up in weight to face Cris Cyborg for the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship on December 29, 2018, at UFC 232.[68] Nunes knocked Cyborg out in 51 seconds of the first round to become the new UFC Women's Featherweight Champion. This made her the first woman in UFC to hold championship belts in different divisions simultaneously.[69] This win also earned her the Performance of the Night award.[70]
Nunes returned to bantamweight to make her fourth title defense against former champion Holly Holm on July 6, 2019, at UFC 239.[71] She won the fight via knockout in round one after dropping Holm with a head kick and following up with punches.[72] This win earned her the Performance of the Night award.[73]
Nunes faced Germaine de Randamie in a rematch on December 14, 2019, at UFC 245 to defend her UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship.[74] After outgrappling her opponent in every round, she won the fight via unanimous decision (49–44, 49–46, and 49–45).[75] This win meant Nunes had the most wins in women's title fights in the UFC, with seven such wins.[76]
Nunes was expected to face Felicia Spencer on May 9, 2020, at then UFC 250.[77] On April 9, Dana White, president of the UFC announced that this event was postponed[78] The bout eventually took place on June 6, 2020, at UFC 250.[79] Nunes won via unanimous decision (50–44, 50–44, and 50–45).[80]
Nunes was expected to defend her featherweight title against Megan Anderson in December 2020 at UFC 256.[81] It was announced on November 9 that Nunes pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was postponed to 2021.[82] The pairing was rescheduled for March 6, 2021 at UFC 259.[83] Nunes won the fight via triangle armbar in round one.[84]
Nunes was expected to defend her bantamweight title on August 7, 2021, at UFC 265 against Julianna Peña.[85] Nunes tested positive for COVID-19 on July 29 and the bout was cancelled.[86][87] The fight was rescheduled and eventually took place at UFC 269 on December 11, 2021.[88] After dominating the first round, Nunes was outstruck in the second round, and eventually submitted via rear-naked choke, losing her bantamweight championship in a massive upset.[89][90][91][92]
On February 5, 2022, it was announced that Nunes and Julianna Peña will be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 30 at ESPN+ and the show featured heavyweight and women's flyweight contestants.[93]
A rematch against Julianna Peña for the UFC Women's Bantamweight title took place on July 30, 2022, at UFC 277.[94] Nunes recaptured the title in a 5-round dominant unanimous decision victory over Peña, and became the first person in UFC history, of either gender to become double champ twice.[95] She also became the first fighter to win a title in the weight class below the one in which they were currently holding the title. Nunes received Crypto.com "Fan Bonus of the Night" awards paid in bitcoin of US$30,000 for first place for this fight.[96]
Retirement
A trilogy bout was scheduled against Julianna Peña on June 10, 2023, at UFC 289.[97] On May 2, 2023, it was announced that Peña had suffered broken ribs during training camp and would be unable to compete. Irene Aldana agreed to replace Peña at the event.[98] Nunes won the fight via a dominant unanimous decision, and announced her retirement from active competition during the post-fight interview.[99][100]
Personal life
Nunes is the first openly lesbian UFC champion. She is married to former UFC fighter Nina Nunes (née Ansaroff), who competed in the strawweight division.[101] She credits her UFC success to their relationship.[55] On September 24, 2020, her wife gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter.[102] On the 6th of November, Nunes announced via her Instagram post that she and her wife welcomed their second daughter, born on November 1, 2023. [103]
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