Amanda Nunes

Born Name: Amanda Lourenço Nunes
Date of Birth: May 30, 1988
Place fo Birth: Pojuca, State of Bahia, Brazil
Other names: The Lioness
Nationality: Brazilian
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Brown belt in Judo
Partner: Nina Ansaroff
Martial art: Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Amanda Lourenço Nunes (born May 30, 1988) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is the reigning champion of the women's bantamweight and featherweight divisions. She is the first woman to become a two-division UFC champion and third person to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. She is also the first fighter in UFC history to defend two titles while holding them simultaneously. As of June 2, 2020, she is #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Early life
Nunes grew up in a small town outside of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She started training in Karate at age four and pursued training in boxing at the age of sixteen. She first competed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being invited to a dojo by her sister, who also trained in the sport.

Mixed martial arts career
Nunes lived in New Jersey and trained at AMA Fight Club before moving to Miami to train at MMA Masters. She is currently training at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. She has competed in both the 135-pound and 145-pound weight divisions and has stated that she intends to fight at 135 pounds for the foreseeable future.

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.

Strikeforce
Nunes had won five straight fights, all by knockout prior to making her Strikeforce debut on January 7, 2011, at Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine in Nashville, Tennessee. She defeated Canadian Julia Budd by knockout in just 14 seconds.

Nunes was scheduled to fight Julie Kedzie at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on June 18, 2011, in Dallas, Texas. The bout, however, was cancelled after Nunes sustained a foot injury.

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.

Nunes signed to face Cat Zingano at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy on September 29, 2012, but the event was cancelled when Gilbert Melendez, who was set to defend his title against Pat Healy, sustained a knee injury in training that forced his withdrawal from the card.

Invicta FC
Nunes was scheduled to face Milana Dudieva at Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann on July 28, 2012. However, Dudieva withdrew from the fight due to illness on July 9 and Nunes was then scheduled to face Leslie Smith instead. Smith also withdrew due to an injury and Nunes ultimately faced Raquel Pa'aluhi. Nunes won the fight via technical submission due to a rear-naked choke in the first round.

On January 5, 2013, Nunes returned to Invicta FC to face Sarah D'Alelio at Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt. Nunes lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Nunes was scheduled to face Kaitlin Young at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson on April 5, 2013. However, she sustained an arm injury and was forced to withdraw from the fight.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Nunes made her Octagon debut against Sheila Gaff at UFC 163 on August 3, 2013, in Brazil. She won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Nunes made her second UFC appearance when she faced Germaine de Randamie at UFC Fight Night 31 on November 6, 2013. She won the fight via TKO in the first round.

For her third fight with the promotion, Nunes was named the injury replacement for Shayna Baszler against Sarah Kaufman at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale. However, Nunes later pulled out of the bout with a dislocated thumb.

Nunes faced Cat Zingano on September 27, 2014, at UFC 178. After nearly finishing Zingano with punches in the first round, she lost the next round before being finished via TKO in the third round.

Nunes faced Shayna Baszler on March 21, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 62. She won the fight via TKO in the first round.

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.

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).

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. Her victory made her the first openly gay champion in UFC history.

On December 30, 2016, Nunes made her first title defense against returning MMA superstar Ronda Rousey in the main event at UFC 207. Nunes won the fight via TKO due to punches 48 seconds into the first round.

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. However, Nunes was hospitalized the morning of the fight with chronic sinusitis and the fight was cancelled. Joanna Jędrzejczyk offered to replace Nunes, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission could not clear her on such short notice. Nunes instead fought Shevchenko at UFC 215 on September 9 in Edmonton, Alberta. Nunes won the closely contested fight by split decision.

Nunes faced Raquel Pennington on May 12, 2018, at UFC 224. After a dominant performance, Nunes finished the fight with ground and pound at 2:36 of round five. This was the first event in UFC history to be headlined by two openly gay fighters.

Nunes moved up in weight to face Cris Cyborg for the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship on December 29, 2018, at UFC 232. 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 history to hold championship belts in different divisions simultaneously. This win also earned her the Performance of the Night award.

Nunes returned to Bantamweight to make her fourth title defense against former champion Holly Holm on July 6, 2019, at UFC 239. She won the fight via knockout in round one after dropping Holm with a head kick and following up with punches. This win earned her the Performance of the Night award.

Nunes faced Germaine de Randamie on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245 to defend her UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. After outgrappling her opponent in every round, she won the fight via unanimous decision. This win meant Nunes had the most wins in women’s title fights in the UFC, with seven such wins.

Nunes was expected to face Felicia Spencer on May 9, 2020 at then UFC 250. However, on April 9, Dana White, president of the UFC announced that this event was postponed The bout eventually took place on June 6, 2020 at UFC 250. Nunes won via unanimous decision.

Personal life
Nunes is married to fellow UFC fighter Nina Ansaroff, who competes in the Strawweight division. She credits her UFC successes to their relationship.