UFC
289 marked the end of the legendary career of
Amanda
Nunes. The most accomplished women’s MMA fighter of all time,
Nunes hung up the gloves after a one-sided win over
Irene
Aldana in the main event. Nunes held two belts, although the
quality of her featherweight title is somewhat questionable.
Regardless, Nunes is one of the best ever. On today’s Aftermath, we
are going to look at Nunes’ win over
Irene
Aldana but also review her career to honor her body of work in
the UFC.
Nunes’ Career
After her third career loss in
Invicta FC, Nunes got the call to the UFC at
7-3. She was heavy-hitting but raw in talent. Her Octagon debut was
against
Sheila Gaff
and she finished that fight in the first round. Then Nunes was
thrown to the wolves, so to speak, when she took on
Germaine
de Randamie. A skilled striker in her own right, de Randamie
presented a tough challenge for the young Nunes. It was Nunes’
elbows that put de Randamie away.
After losing to
Cat Zingano
in her third fight with the promotion, Nunes went on an absolute
tear. She won 12 fights straight and beat Olympic silver medalist
Sara
McMann, future flyweight champion
Valentina
Shevchenko twice,
Miesha Tate,
Ronda
Rousey,
Holly Holm,
de Randamie again, and more. The crowning Nunes moment was when she
moved up to 145 pounds to take on
Cristiane
Justino. “Cyborg” hadn’t lost an MMA fight since her debut,
which added up to a mind-numbing 20-fight win streak. Nunes went in
and knocked “Cyborg” out in the first round of an amazing
firefight.
The most insane stat about Nunes was that at one point the champion
had beaten every champion in the women’s 125, 135 and 145-pound
divisions with the exception of
Nicco
Montano at 125 and now
Alexa
Grasso.
Valentina
Shevchenko was the perennial flyweight champion and Nunes beat
her twice. The bantamweight lineage went
Ronda
Rousey,
Holly Holm,
Miesha
Tate, Nunes and
Julianna
Pena. Nunes beat every one of them. The 145-pound title changed
hands from de Randamie to “Cyborg” and Nunes beat them as well.
Nunes’ career is iconic, just as iconic as seeing her lay not just
her gloves, but both belts in the center of the cage to announce
her retirement. Nobody else can lay claim to that.
Aldana never stood a chance
Now on to our analytical stuff. Aldana came into UFC 289 and never
truly stood a chance. From the jump, she was timid, gun-shy and
couldn’t really find her range for the most part. Nunes showed us a
different version of herself than the one from the beginning of her
career. At 35 years old, she doesn’t have the same power she showed
against “Cyborg,” whom she beat when she was 30. Instead, Nunes was
tactical, not a brawler. She tore Aldana apart from range,
threatening the takedown to get the hands lowered. Aldana didn’t
lower her hands for the most part, but seeing Nunes put in the
effort to do so made me think she was improving and evolving as a
fighter while I was watching the fight.