Amanda Nunes Fighter Profile
- Age: 36
- Weight Classes: Women’s Featherweight & Bantamweight
- Years Active (UFC): 2011-Present
- Country of Birth: Brazil
- Pro MMA Record: 23-5-0
- Knockout Wins: 13
- Submission Wins: 4
- Nickname: The Lioness
- Championship’s Won: Women’s Featherweight & Bantamweight
- Team: American Top Team
- Career Earnings Estimate: USD 8,362,000
Denying the all-time-greatest status of Amanda Nunes within the realm of professional mixed martial arts, as recognized by the best UFC betting sites, just isn’t viable.
Widely regarded as the most dangerous and talented women’s fighter in MMA history, “The Lioness” sits atop a long list of elite-level competitors who’ve made a case to be the women’s G.O.A.T. Still, no case is quite backed up like Amanda’s.
Making her pro-MMA debut in 2008 on the Brazilian regional scene didn’t go to plan, and her early tenure also presented multiple setbacks and learning curves. But as champions do, she regrouped from each pitfall and gradually built a legacy in the sport that remains untouched today.
With the honor of being labeled the greatest female fighter in MMA history, let’s dive into why and uncover the career of yet another UFC legend whose name will forever be etched into the history books.
‘The Lioness’: Roaring Behind Longevity
Prior to reaching the elite-infested waters of the UFC, surprisingly to some, Amanda Nunes lost three competitive bouts, including a 35-second submission defeat in her pro debut and a brutal TKO loss to Alexis Davis in Strikeforce.
As previously mentioned, she’s no stranger to setbacks, and those early tenure downfalls could’ve built the women we know today. As soon as Nunes touched down in the UFC in August 2013, she instantly began showing signs of greatness, and as they say… the rest is history.
Many fighters receive flack for their activity, but Nunes, you could never. From her first fight to her retirement bout, she’s remained active throughout promotions, and for most of them, it’s been at an elite level.
Even the likes of George St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and Conor McGregor have taken a hiatus from the sport, mostly due to the mental strain of MMA. Conversely, Nunes has not only stayed active for 15 consecutive years but has also done it as a two-division titleholder.
Such longevity is a testament to her robust mindset and longevity. It also poses the question of whether we should place the word ‘woman’ in front of her G.O.A.T status, as she’s often exceeded expectations compared to her male counterparts.
Amanda Nunes: Two-Division Championship Status
To be dubbed the ‘Greatest of All Time’ isn’t easy, and throughout men’s and women’s professional mixed martial arts, only a handful of athletes have earned such reputations. For Nunes, though, it’s simple: one doesn’t simply become a two-division champion without entering the G.O.A.T conversation.
Rewind to UFC 200, when ‘The Lioness’ collected her first UFC championship. She absolutely dominated Miesha Tate via first-round submission, thus kickstarting a title reign that, little did we know at the time, would be one of supremacy.
Two years and three lobsided title defenses (Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, and Raquel Pennington) later, at UFC 232, she faced Cris Cyborg for the bantamweight strap. At the time, many believed Cyborg to be the greatest ever and the most feared striker in WMMA, but when Nunes unleashed a flurry of punches to collect a KO/TKO win, the world was left in awe of the superstar and what she’d accomplished.
Now, holding two championships, there was no denying that we had an all-time great on our hands. Yet it isn’t the achievement of winning gold in two divisions that makes Nunes a legend, but how she handled being a titleholder in multiple weight classes.
There have been nine two-division champions in UFC history, but none of those fighters successfully defended both titles simultaneously. Nunes, however, had no problem! Instead of vacating one of her two championships, she opted to defend both. After running through Holly and Germaine de Randamie in 2019, she reached a new milestone of defeating every former UFC women’s featherweight and bantamweight champion.
Watching Nunes alternate between defending titles across two divisions is something we may never witness again in the sport. If there was an argument about who the greatest champion in WMMA was beforehand, it was no longer existent, as she cemented her position as the G.O.A.T. by a large margin.
Amanda Nunes: The Record Setter Who Aged Like Fine Wine
Most commonly, the longer champions compete, the stiffer the competition becomes. Regarding Nunes, this wasn’t the case. Her in-cage evolution never seemed to stop, even throughout her early to mid-thirties. Following the Cyborg bout, her next four opponents between 2019 and 2021 would be utterly outclassed, and none of which could trouble the champ-champ in the slightest.
It was clear that Nunes had made the featherweight and bantamweight divisions stagnant, as UFC enthusiasts and fans alike stopped wondering if she’d win and instead began pondering on how she was going to win.
Perhaps Nunes herself started underestimating the competition; her reign was finally halted at UFC 269 when Julianna Pena shocked the world and won the 135-lb title via submission.
Questions on whether the throne had been stolen or deservingly earned quickly arose, and as promptly as we questioned ‘The Lioness, ’ she settled the debate. Rematching Pena resulted in a dominant unanimous decision and a return to holding championships across two divisions.
One final title defense in 2023 marked the end of an era, the end of something special that may never be replicated in UFC or MMA as a whole. Aged 36, Nunes is over a year into retirement, and while we pray to see one more fight, she’s earned the right to hang those gloves up.
Amanda Nunes left the sport of MMA with eye-watering records and achievements, from being the first and only two-division titleholder to actively defend her belts to having the fourth-longest single title reign in UFC history.
The epic title reign as a bantamweight places her as the only female competitor in the top five for most wins in title fight wins in UFC history, alongside Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, GSP, and Demetrius Johnson. Not to mention, with 16 UFC wins on her record, she has won more fights than any other female in the UFC women’s divisions.
If you aren’t convinced Amanda Nunes is one of the greatest fighters in combat sports history, you irrefutably cannot deny that she’s a legend!
Mixed Martial Arts Accomplishments
The Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion ( Two times, six defenses overall)
- UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion (One time, two defenses)
- Most wins in WMMA UFC title fights (11)
- Most wins in UFC bantamweight history (8)
- First WMMA competitor to win championships in two divisions
- First fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles and defend them
- The only fighter in UFC history to retire as a champion in two divisions
- Longest combined UFC title reign in history (4019 days)
- Joint most Performance of the Night bonuses in UFC women’s history (5)
- Second most wins in UFC women’s history (10)
