The Day

Nunes retains UFC title

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Las Vegas — Amanda Nunes' impressive reign atop two UFC divisions is showing no signs of decline.

In fact, her dominance is making history.

Nunes became the first UFC fighter to defend two championsh­ip belts while actively holding the titles in both weight classes Saturday night, earning a dominant unanimous decision over featherwei­ght contender Felicia Spencer at UFC 250.

Former bantamweig­ht champion Cody Garbrandt also knocked out Raphael Assunção an instant before the second-round bell in the co-main event at a fan-free gym on the UFC's corporate campus in Las Vegas.

UFC 250 was the second event held at the UFC Apex gym in the promotion's hometown since its resumption in competitio­n amid the coronaviru­s pandemic. The Apex octagon is 25 feet in diameter instead of the typical 30 feet, and those close quarters resulted in several entertaini­ng finishes, including spectacula­r knockouts by Garbrandt and fellow bantamweig­ht star “Suga” Sean O'Malley.

Nunes (20-4), widely considered the greatest female fighter in mixed martial arts history, is the UFC's champion of the bantamweig­ht and featherwei­ght divisions. The list of two-division UFC champions is short.

“Guys, no one else ever did that before!” Nunes said. “It's amazing. I knew something big was going to happen in my life. Sometimes you're surprised by how big it is.”

While Nunes' dominance was tested in her last bout against bantamweig­ht Germaine De Randamie in December, the relatively inexperien­ced Spencer (8-2) provided little danger to the champ, other than the remote possibilit­y of breaking her hands in repeated collisions with Spencer's face.

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