Amanda Nunes, the undisputed queen of the mixed martial arts world, finally hung up her gloves. She’s widely acknowledged as the greatest female MMA fighter of all time.
Nunes, a former champion in both the women’s bantamweight and featherweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), ended her remarkable career with a 23-5 record. She boasted a 74% finishing rate, etching her name in the annals of combat sports history.
Her final fight took place at UFC 289. She successfully defended her undisputed women’s bantamweight title against Irena Aldana, winning by unanimous decision after five rounds. Ten days later, on June 10, she vacated the title, making her retirement official.
As time passes and Nunes’ competitive exploits fade into the background, it’s worth examining some of the significant numbers that defined her career. Nunes was 35 years old when she retired. She was born on May 30, 1988, in Pojuca, Brazil, a small town over 6,000 miles away from the UFC headquarters in Las Vegas.
Nunes has 13 wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 57% of her career total. Her list of UFC victims includes Holly Holm, Cristiane Justino, Raquel Pennington, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Germaine de Randamie, and Sheila Gaff. In addition, she holds four other wins by submission (17%) and six more by decision (26%).
Nunes needed just 10 seconds to defeat Nadja Nadja with punches on the Brazilian regional scene in July 2008. This ranks as the fastest of her five sub-minute finishes.
Throughout her career, Nunes fought in seven different promotions. Besides her 16-2 record in the UFC, she went 2-0 in Samurai Fight Combat, 1-1 in Invicta Fighting Championships, 1-1 in Strikeforce, 1-1 in Prime MMA Championship, 1-0 in Bitetti Combat, and 1-0 in Demo Fight.
From March 21, 2015, to March 6, 2021, Nunes enjoyed an uninterrupted winning streak of 12 consecutive victories. This was her longest stretch of success.
As a UFC women’s bantamweight, Nunes landed 773 significant strikes, placing her third on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only Aldana (959) and Pennington (922) have connected with more.
Throughout her 18 UFC assignments, Nunes banked $300,000 in post-fight bonuses. She was awarded “Performance of the Night” five times.
Nunes started 62 rounds as a mixed martial artist. She went the distance on seven different occasions and compiled a 6-1 record in those bouts. Her only unanimous decision defeat was to Sarah D’Alelio at Invicta 4 on Jan. 5, 2013.
Eight fighters other than Nunes have held UFC titles in two weight classes. They include Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St. Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, Jon Jones, and Alex Pereira.
The five women who defeated Nunes—D’Alelio, Julianna Pena, Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis, and Ana Maria—have a combined record of 62-33, a cumulative winning percentage of .653.