It’s Time To Start Talking About Amanda Nunes & Her Scary Hands

Without doubt, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey deserves respect, but it’s Amanda Nunes who holds the belt now. After decimating the returning ‘Rowdy’ at UFC 207, it seems Nunes is experiencing a repeat of the lead up to their fight. Again, everyone is talking about Rousey, albeit in reference to her loss. Instead of discussing the sheer superiority with which ‘The Lioness’ took out Rousey, folks seem to be more content to revel in Rousey’s downfall. Being the champion has many perks, but also some bumps in the road.

Now that’s she’s defeated the ex-champ in her first defense, Nunes should definitely get more air time from the UFC. With a growing highlight reel and a reputation as the hardest puncher at w-135, ‘The Lioness’ could build quite the legacy with a few more victories. Until UFC 207, few knew Nunes’ capabilities, but it’s a whole different story now. It’s time to talk about Amanda Nunes & her scary hands.

Long Power

During the 48 seconds of the UFC 207 main event, we saw a perfect example of long power punches. Spearing jabs and straight rights combined with long left hooks ended the show with style. Nunes used the fundamentals of boxing to get the job done, bread and butter, but done to perfection. Sliding in on the front foot, Nunes is able to keep herself in the optimum striking range. Her length is fully utilized, and her technique is simply flawless.

This GIF of Nunes landing a straight right on Sara McMann illustrates the point. Note how by the time McMann has spun from the missed kick, Nunes is already at range, and the punch lands exactly in the moment of full extension. Body shape, timing, accuracy, speed and movement all rolled in to one sweet moment:

These are not glancing blows we see from the Brazilian. Her punches don’t fall short, and they don’t finish near the back of the head as we see when strikers are just a little too close. Nunes again proves that you don’t have to be stocky and short to get torque and power from your strikes. Quoting Teddy Atlas-“Power is like a bomb, it’s useless unless you have a missile to get it to the target.” Using that analogy, Nunes is packing precise explosives in both hands.

No Mercy

Along with her excellent technique, Amanda Nunes knows when to turn the heat up, and she won’t let up. As we saw in her leg kick TKO over Rousey’s teammate Shayna Baszler, and against ‘Rowdy,’ the champ shows no relent. Smelling blood and being able to capitalize on it are two completely different skills, Nunes has both in stacks. Then there’s the ability to mix up her strikes when required, as we saw in the Baszler fight, Nunes is not just a boxer.

Nunes’ TKO win over Baszler remains the only stoppage due to leg kicks in women’s UFC history. After defeating the UFC’s biggest star to date, expect to see a lot more of bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes. Should she keep improving and displaying dominant form, she may well approach the GOAT conversation quicker than you think.

 

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