Champion Amanda Nunes decided to go to plan B during her fight against Holly Holm at UFC 239.
The reigning female bantamweight and featherweight champion, Amanda Nunes, had a different gameplan in mind ahead of her title defense against Holly Holm at UFC 239. Although she scored a highlight-reel KO win against one the division’s more experienced strikers, the ‘Lioness’ confessed during the post-event press conference that she didn’t practice the fight-winning combination for too long.
In fact, Nunes said her original plan was to chase and pressure her opponent, but changed her mind in the middle of the fight. That’s when she noticed Holm’s different demeanor, which resulted in Amanda resorting to a combination she practiced with her fiancee, UFC strawweight Nina Ansaroff, in the hotel room they were staying for the event.
“She showed up differently tonight,” Nunes said, according to MMA Fighting. “I thought Holly was going to move a lot, I thought she was going to in and out, run a little bit, try to clinch me, but she stayed still there. I have to do something else, I have to do Plan B because my first one was chase her and she kind of showed up different and it was better for me how she showed up tonight.”
“This weekend I was in the hotel room, me and Nina (Ansaroff) started practicing hook, straight, and finish with the [head] kick.” Amanda continued. “Because I knew she was going to run that way,” Nunes said. “Every time before I sleep we always do it over and over until like, ‘I might catch her with this one. I’m gonna do this.’”.
Although the combination was not something Amanda had planned from the beginning, Nunes doesn’t chalk up her win to a possible lucky strike, claiming she was able to surprise Holly with her good, precise, timing.
“I don’t think it was easy. I think I had very good timing,” Nunes said. “I got the right moment. I didn’t even think Holly expected that. We all know Holly is a pretty tough opponent, but tonight was my night.”
With the win over Holly Holm, Amanda Nunes (18-4) extended her current win streak to nine straight victories, with wins over the likes of Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko and Miesha Tate, among others. The 30-year-old’s last and sole UFC loss happened in September 2014, when she was TKO’d by Cat Zingano.