Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Amanda Nunes defended her bantamweight belt once again with a decision over Germaine de Randamie in their UFC 245 rematch.

UFC bantamweight champ, Amanda Nunes, found herself in hot water at UFC 245 against Germaine de Randamie, but leaned on her wrestling and grappling to secure a unanimous decision victory.

Nunes found herself at a disadvantage in the striking department against GDR, which is unfamiliar territory for her, so she switched gears and started hitting double legs to take the fight where she felt more comfortable. GDR had her window of opportunity, hurting Nunes with strikes and landing strong knees from the Thai clinch. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t stop the takedown, and had a tremendously difficult time getting off of her back.

What was the highlight of the fight?

The highlight of the fight was seeing Nunes fight smart. Instead of trying to bang it out with a kickboxing champ, she put her pride to the side and turned to her grappling. Watching Nunes escape danger was the sort of well rounded fight I.Q. one would expect to see out of someone labeled as the G.O.A.T.

Where do these two go from here?

It’s hard to say where Nunes goes from here. There’s up and comers like Aspen Ladd and Irene Aldana that could be next in line, but to be honest, the most exciting bout just might be a trilogy fight with current flyweight queen, Valentina Shevchenko. Yes, Nunes has already beaten her twice, but both women seem to be leaps and bounds above their respective divisions. As for Germaine de Randamie, this was actually the first time she has fought twice in a calendar year since 2013. Don’t be surprised if she takes a bunch of time off from the sport, or possibly never fights again. If she does stick around, then perhaps she could play gatekeeper to title contention.

Watch now, later, or never?

If you catch the highlights, then you would just fine if you never saw this fight in its entirety. Nunes spent a lot of this fight on top, controlling while doing just enough to not get stood up.