For Diego “The Gun” Nunes, and for all fighters for that matter, a win is a win is a win.
Fresh off a mainly-via-kicks decision win over Manny “The Anvil” Gamburyan in UFC 141, the Brazilian picks up his third win in four UFC fights.
There is no doubt that Nunes—arguably among the top-10 featherweights on the planet—is on his way to UFC featherweight contendership, but this small men’s division is S-T-A-C-K-E-D.
The way to champion Jose Aldo’s belt is the road to hell, littered with monsters named Chad Mendes, Hatsu Hioki, Pat Curran, Erik Koch and Matt Hominick, among others.
To top it all is, well, as previously mentioned, the man on top: Jose Aldo, the champion and Sherdog.com’s No. 5 pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world.
Going back to Nunes’ win over Gamburyan, it was a good rebound victory considering The Gun was outgunned in his previous IFC outing by Kenny Florian. But Gamburyan’s worth as an opponent is highly questionable, now having lost his third straight UFC fight.
The Anvil may have won three straight fights in the WEC before losing to, yes, Aldo in WEC 51 prior to his return to the world’s top MMA promotion, with wins over respectable fighters Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia—add to that his esteem as No. 10 featherweight in the world by Sherdog.com and No. 9 by MMAFighting.com—but three straight losses ain’t good (two in the UFC and one in WEC), however you look at it, UFC career-wise.
This last could be Gamburyan’s penultimate fight in the UFC, if not from MMA itself. And Nunes takes credit for opening the exit door to the grizzled veteran. (Who will push him out of it and lock it up is anybody’s guess.)
Anyway, it’s still a win for Nunes, and another UFC triumph over a notable fighter followed by a win over Mendes or Hioki, even one versus Hominick, will bring him closer to his compatriot’s throne. Displaying almost the same fighting style, expect an exciting kick-fest—if it happens.
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