Amanda Nunes defended her featherweight title this Saturday night by defeating Felicia Spencer, and proving that she is without the competition in the ladies part of the UFC right now.
The Brazilian would dominate for the entire 25 minutes, showing a big difference in quality between her and the Canadian challenger. According to Nunes, her constant pressure over the rival was the only way for her to secure the win. Spencer is a tough opponent able to use the slightest mistake of the person across the ring, and this one had to be perfect for Nunes.
“I’m not surprised. I know she’s very tough. I know what she’s capable of,” Nunes said of Spencer. “I knew if I have to go five rounds, I have to dominate. I have to be as sharp as a cactus.”
Amanda Nunes going at Felicia Spencer 😳 #UFC250 pic.twitter.com/PTmQA2Nosm
— ESPN (@espn) June 7, 2020
The Lioness pumped up the tempo right from the start and managed to hurt Spencer immediately in the first round. She sent a few powerful punches, forcing the challenger to be defensive, and after that moved the fight to the ground, where she worked her way around cutting Spencer.
A similar situation was in the rest of the match. What was the highlight of the fight was the moment when Spencer’s mouthpiece catapulted following one overhead right Nunes sent. For many who watched the bout and shared their impressions all over the social networks, the latter stages looked more like a sparring session between the champ and some random partner.
In the end, it was a no brainer for the judges who reached a unanimous decision, scoring massively in Nunes’ favor, 50-44, 50-44, and 50-45.
The debate about her being the best ever female fighter started after this match. There are numerous reasons for that claim, and one of them is her becoming the first lady that defended one title while holding another one in a different division.
“I’m defending both belts. I’m the greatest,” Nunes said. “I’m so happy now. I don’t know what’s next. But I proved it already.”
This was also her 11th straight win, which is something fascinating, and during that time, Nunes managed to take down the entire competition in bantamweight and featherweight divisions.
Spencer, on the other side, tasted what is like to go against the champ, and probably learned a lesson which would be remembered for the rest of her life. Even though she won the INVICTA featherweight belt, this was a completely different experience for her.
Although, we need to add that she became only the third fighter who managed to go to distance with Nunes when facing the Lioness in one title match. Before her, the two were Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko.
In other fights of the night, Cody Garbrandt defeated Raphael Assuncao via knockout in the second round, announcing his comeback to the top echelon. Surprisingly Aljamain Sterling was better than Cory Sandhagen, submitting him in the first round via rear-naked choke.
Sean O’Malley won via stunning KO over Eddie Wineland, and possibly earned a KO of the Year award after this one.
“I seriously believe I do have the best striking in all of MMA,” O’Malley said after the fight.
The youngster Chase Hooper lost via unanimous decision against Alex Caceres, suffering his first carer defeat. It was a unanimous decision of the judges, 30-27 all three.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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