Amanda nunes – The lioness emerges
In the maelstrom of the Jon Jones afflicted UFC 232, one moment captured the spirit of this great sport. A thrilling 51 second co-main event produced that rare unanimous positive energy that has all fans coming out of their seats. In a showdown for supreme female dominance, Cris Cyborg put her featherweight title on the line against renowned pioneer killer and reigning bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. The pair of warriors swung leather until one of them couldn’t. As the significance of the moment bulldozed through the crowd – who reacted accordingly – Amanda Nunes stepped out of the crater, for once truly deserving of that promiscuous honorific, G.O.A.T.
Of all the parties shafted during the final fight week of 2018, the Cyborg/Nunes fight is perhaps the most unfortunate – aside from all the travelling fans actually shafted by the UFC’s abrupt venue shift due to Jon Jones’ “abnormal drug test results”. In the actual fight world though, Cyborg/Nunes was a seminal booking, and the redirected focus to turinabol picograms and USADA’s integrity was a travesty. All woefully par for the course in Mixed Martial Arts these days.
You don’t need to look any further than the pre-fight press conference to see this play out in real time. As UFC president Dana White turned red, invoking “Novitsky” when the tough questions assaulted him, and Jon Jones hurled abuse at a journalist asking fair question, most – myself shamefully included – completely forgot Cyborg and Nunes were even present. The squeaky wheel gets the grease however, and Jon Jones is the squeakiest.
Stolen thunder
The controversial star is a klepto for the headlines, thanks to his decision making both in and out of the cage. His shadow however, is not the only one that has loomed over Amanda Nunes in the last few years. Since winning the bantamweight title in a storming finish of WMMA legend Miesha Tate at UFC 200 back in July of 2016, it seems like lighting rods have been planted around her whenever she did anything impressive.
Nunes’ initial title victory itself was an impromptu main event thanks to Jon Jones’ first failed drug test. UFC 200 also featured the return of Brock Lesnar, whom would also go on to fail a drug test, as such Nunes was at the bottom of any list of talking points coming off of that event. Her first defense would be against a reemerging Ronda Rousey, and Nunes’ subsequent drubbing of the former 135 queen only served as fuel for commentary on the career of Rousey. Her next title defense was a razor thin split decision over now flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. To call it controversial would be an understatement; Dana White himself came out in support of “Bullet” on the score cards.
Her fight prior to UFC 232 was her third title defense of her bantamweight title against Raquel “Rocky” Pennington. The fight started poorly for the challenger and only got worse. As Pennington absorbed a sustained mauling at the hands – and legs – of the “Lioness” she informed her corner that she was “done”. In a moment of extreme stress for all involved, her head coach made a call that lit a wildfire in the MMA community: he pleaded with her to continue. She did, and she ended the fight face down, hemorrhaging blood. All eyes were on Pennington and her corner coming out of Brazil that weekend. Amanda Nunes has not been granted true ownership over her many accomplishments and 232 was the chance to rectify that, in spite of the Jon Jones shaped drama.
a pure fight
Cyborg vs Nunes was a pure fight, if there is such a thing. No drummed up animosity or drama, just two fighters doing battle for the ultimate prize. Cyborg was already considered by many to be the greatest female fighter of all time, and Nunes at 30 years old had already wreaked havoc on the women’s MMA pantheon with victories over the likes of Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko (albeit in a controversial decision). For the first time in a long time, the grievous manhandling of superlatives actually felt justified. Of course, we would have to see exactly how things played out before we set the farmyard animals free.
Both women were professional. They both made weight, and they showed up on fight night with nary a scandal to their name. This was main event worthy anywhere in the world, and the two fighters refused to serve as a mere aperitif for the main event. The first bell rang and the champions charged at one another. It didn’t take for the sledgehammers to come out, neither women content with anything less than supreme violence. As winging punches came closer and closer to their targets, an energy took off in arena. The three man commentary booth of Anik, Rogan and Cruz were quick to match the tone. This wasn’t going to last the round, and everyone knew it.
At this point it’s important to note the aura surrounding Cris Cyborg. You don’t get the fighting nickname “Cyborg” because you are a pacifist. Cris Cyborg has been the boogeywoman since 2005, the year that saw her only loss in her first professional fight. Considered unstoppable by pundits, she has used her terrifying power to dispatch every woman put in front of her. The closest thing to a test for the Brazilian during her UFC tenure has been Holly Holm, and that was a decisive showing. Amanda Nunes is highly respected amongst experts, but was still a bantamweight attempting to make the ten pound jump to featherweight against a destroyer. No one had confidence Amanda Nunes would win, except for Amanda Nunes.
She shocked the world
After 51 seconds of pure adrenaline fuelled mayhem, Nunes landed a right overhand that stopped the unstoppable. Cyborg went face down ass up, and Amanda Nunes scaled the cage. The commentary team searched for words between primal screaming and the arena’s seats found themselves temporarily bereft of purpose. After a tumultuous week, an authentic moment in which the sport’s truest and most sincere self shone through was presented to the world. The best fighting the best, and the better woman won. It was perfect, the show of respect and class between Nunes and Cyborg post-fight only adding to the affair.
It’s moments like this that remind us why we all hopped aboard this rickety and misshapen bandwagon in the first place, and Amanda Nunes finds herself at epicentre of it. The question is, will she finally take off the way she deserves? In a career marred by stolen thunder, this moment can and should launch her into the stratosphere. But it’s never a sure thing. The formula for star making has been vaguely parsed, but intangibles often interfere with any practical application of that formula. In short, it is an art, not a science, and while Amanda Nunes painted a masterpiece in the octagon, her promoters have to do their own finessing.
The pieces are all there. Amanda Nunes is a trailblazer, a truly important figure in the sports history. Being the first woman to truly break through and assert herself as the true number one woman. Not only is she to be respected for her fighting acumen, but she is also the first openly gay person to win a UFC title. And we could see her significant other, Nina Ansaroff, join her sooner rather than later as she storm the straw weight rankings. I am not suggesting she been afforded extra credit for being a lesbian, as her skills truly speak for themselves, but it is worth noting what she represents, or what she could represent if the UFC provided her the visibility that she deserves.
I don’t know what the future holds for Amanda Nunes, but I know what she has earned. Cementing herself as the greatest of all time, the world should know that we have history playing out in the cage. The “Lioness” has finally roared loud enough for the world to hear, I just hope they listen.
Images courtesy of mmafighting.com, mmajunkie.com, ftw.usatoday.com and muaythaiauthority.com.
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