MMA
No doubt that the UFC's female double champ Amanda Nunes is one of the best the industry has ever seen but it is too early to consider her as the greatest.
Ahead of her title defense match against the former bantamweight champion Holly Holm at UFC 239, Nunes claimed that she is the greatest fighter in general. She also further revealed that she will defend the featherweight title that she won after knocking out Cris Cyborg.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I am the best MMA fighter of all time in general (male or female). I’m going to keep on defending the featherweight title. I’m going to keep on making history. All the things I went through, my losses, those really helped me. I’ve been through moments where I thought ‘I’m going to step in there and I’m going to crush her, you have no idea.’ Not today. I respect my opponents, I learned that from life. I used to think I would step in there, throw one punch and the other girl would go down and not get up again. Every time I thought that I lost. Fighting taught me, I learned from life. It’s a school, I’m still learning.”
Nunes said.
Despite being UFC's first female double champ, the Lioness has memories of her career, her struggle, and how she overcame her loss to be the greatest.
“It’s very gratifying (to be the best MMA fighter of all time). It makes me very happy. I stop, think and remember my journey, it makes you emotional, really, because I believed in myself. Even when life was sh-tty, when I lost, I was supposed to be the next one to fight Ronda [Rousey], then I lost to Cat [Zingano]. The fight slipped through my fingers. I was going to be next. I went back home in a panic, for sure. Nobody loses and laughs about it.
“After many talks with Nina [Ansaroff], my coaches, some changes, I started to look for answers to my questions. When I look at all that, everything I sought after that fight and all the changes I made. Man, it was so crazy. I did research, I looked for psychologists, too, I did many blood tests, I switched teams. I wanted to be a new athlete, erase everything that happened in my life and start from scratch. It was surreal. Everything put me on my path, doors began to open. When me and Nina talk about it, it’s inexplicable. To be on the inside and see how people look at you, it’s a crazy rollercoaster. It was crazy to live through all of that. To erase everything and from there on out never stop again. To become the best of all time. Crazy stuff.”
Nunes added.
Amanda Nunes is scheduled to fight Holy Holm at UFC 239, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 6. The card is headlined by the light heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Thiago Santos.
