Nunes ready to let her star shine
Champion playing second fiddle to Rousey in lead-up to title fight, but she’s worthy of more
CALGARY — In some ways, Amanda Nunes has been treated as little more than an obstacle in Ronda Rousey’s redemption journey over the past couple months.
UFC 207 promotional materials leaned heavily on Rousey’s star power, pushing a narrative that focused on the former bantamweight champion’s struggles following her stunning loss to Holly Holm last year at UFC 193.
Even Joe Rogan, who calls fights for the UFC, wondered on Twitter why Nunes was being treated like an afterthought.
Nunes is so much more than that. The Brazilian is the current UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
She’s the first Brazilian woman to hold UFC gold.
She’s the first openly gay UFC champion.
Nunes is as deserving of the spotlight as any fighter on the UFC roster. And while her story deserves to be told, it sounded as if she understood how much weight Rousey’s name carries when she spoke with Postmedia earlier this year.
“Since my first fight in the UFC, I’ve been training for Ronda Rousey,” Nunes said. “She was the champion at the time, now everything’s changed because I’m the champion and Ronda is coming back to challenge me, it’s crazy.”
Beating Rousey Friday should make Nunes a star — if she isn’t already — and she’ll probably never have to play second fiddle to an opponent again.
She has to get through Rousey first, though, and even the most technical analysts are struggling to predict how the fight will go.
Nunes absolutely destroyed Miesha Tate when they fought in the headliner of July’s mammoth UFC 200 card, but it was the first many casual fight fans had seen of the 28-year-old.
She’s a hard-hitting striker who can hurt anyone in the early going, but is debatably even more accomplished on the ground.
How does that match up with Rousey’s skill set? It’s hard to say.
With Rousey opting out of media obligations in the buildup to UFC 207, there’s little known about her mindset or any adjustments she’s made.
Holm exposed a few technical flaws in Rousey’s game when they fought last year, but some of those flaws have been exaggerated in the time since.
Yes, Rousey got rocked by Holm, but Holm is one of the most accomplished strikers in all of MMA. Rousey still punched her way through Bethe Correia, Alexis Davis and even Sara McMann while holding the UFC belt.
It’s on the ground, though, where Rousey really made her name. Her signature armbar is one of the most devastating finishing moves in MMA history and it makes her dangerous against anyone.
Nunes, though, is an accomplished jiu-jitsu practitioner and told UFC Unfiltered that despite Rousey’s armbar, she believes she’s got the advantage on the ground.
“I feel like she’s very strong in judo and with the armbar,” Nunes said. “I feel like she doesn’t know that much on the ground. She’s strong, but she doesn’t come from jiu-jitsu.
“I’m 100 per cent better than her on the ground and I will show this if the fight goes to the ground.”
Another one
On Tuesday, yet another UFC star ran afoul of the company’s anti-doping policies.
The United States Anti-Doping Association notified UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett of a potential anti-doping policy violation. The violation came from an out-of-competition test.
Barnett had three previous runins with anti-doping policies while fighting in MMA, most notably when he was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title after his title fight with Randy Couture at UFC 36.
More importantly, Barnett is just the latest in a long line of MMA stars who have been flagged for anti-doping policy violations in 2016. That list includes the likes of Jon Jones, Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar and Chad Mendes.
So long Lesnar
UFC president Dana White isn’t expecting to see Lesnar fight in the UFC again. Speaking with TMZ. com, White said he doubted Lesnar would ever step back into the octagon — although he wouldn’t rule it out completely, saying: “I think he’s ready to ride off into the sunset.”