'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
UFC 269 goes down in a matter of weeks. In the co-headliner, Amanda Nunes is set to defend her UFC bantamweight title against Julianna Pena.
Amanda Nunes will be well expected to defeat Julianna Pena at UFC 269, but if she does so, should the 'Lioness’ continue fighting or step away from the octagon?
There are arguments to support either side of this argument, but if Amanda Nunes does win, then perhaps it’d be better for her to hang up her gloves.
With that in mind, here are five reasons why Amanda Nunes should retire if she defeats Julianna Pena at UFC 269.
#5. Julianna Pena might be the only viable and marketable opponent left for Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes has now been the UFC bantamweight champion since July 2016 and she’s also held the UFC featherweight title since December 2018.
During her two title reigns, she’s made a total of seven successful defenses, turning back challenges from top fighters such as Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington. She’s finished the majority of them, too. Essentially, the 'Lioness’ has been so dominant that if she gets past Julianna Pena, there’s basically nobody left for her to fight in either division.
The featherweight class is essentially dead anyway, with Amanda Nunes and her title reign being the only thing really keeping it alive. Bantamweight, meanwhile, does have a couple of other fighters that Nunes hasn’t fought yet, names like Aspen Ladd and Irene Aldana. However, none of them would really provide a genuinely intriguing opponent for the Brazilian.
Sure, Nunes could stick around and beat up those kind of fighters, but what would honestly be the point? For a fighter as good as her, it’d essentially be like going through the motions.
Therefore, with no really viable opponents remaining for her, if she does defeat Julianna Pena, it’s probably time for Amanda Nunes to ride into the sunset without suffering a loss, making her an instant UFC Hall of Famer.
#4. Amanda Nunes is getting no younger and now has a family to think of
While Amanda Nunes certainly doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all and looked better than ever in her win over Megan Anderson at UFC 259, it’s worth noting that she is 33 years old.
Sure, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s out of her athletic prime just yet, but any fighter who is over the age of 30 and has been competing for well over a decade could fall off the cliff at any time.
More to the point, though, the 'Lioness’ doesn’t have just herself to think of these days. She married fellow UFC star Nina Nunes a few years ago and the couple had their first child in September 2020.
In some ways, it might make sense for Amanda Nunes to continue to fight. After all, she’s a higher-level fighter than her wife and theoretically, her title defenses would earn her enough money to support her family comfortably.
However, the likelihood is that after years of being a UFC champion, Nunes has already earned enough money to ensure her family are comfortable. At this stage, as she reaches her mid-30’s, perhaps it’d be better for her to spend more time with her child rather than knock off the UFC’s contender of the month every so often.
#3. Amanda Nunes should aim to be more like GSP and less like Anderson Silva
When UFC fans look back at the great champions of the past, a number of names tend to stand out above the others. However, the one fighter who seems to be generally seen as the greatest UFC fighter of all time is Georges St-Pierre.
GSP ruled over the welterweight division from 2008 to 2013, making nine successful defenses of his UFC welterweight title in the process. However, the key reason why he’s considered the GOAT is the fact that he walked away while he was still at the top.
Sure, some fans might argue that he should’ve lost to Johny Hendricks in his final UFC welterweight title defense, but the fact is that he stepped away as a champion who’d avenged both of his career losses.
Compare that to Anderson Silva, who was once considered ahead of GSP in that GOAT conversation prior to a late career slide but certainly wouldn’t be in the same slot now, and it’s easy to see why leaving at the top is a more attractive path.
For a fighter as good as Amanda Nunes, then, surely it’d make more sense to step away while the fans still see her as the greatest female fighter of all time, rather than sticking around for too long like Silva did, picking up bad losses and losing her luster in the process.
#2. Amanda Nunes has nothing left to prove
Naturally, it makes sense for a UFC fighter, particularly a champion like Amanda Nunes, to want to fight for as long as possible in order to cement their legacy.
For a young fighter with everything to prove, think someone like Khamzat Chimaev, then fighting as many times as possible against trickier opponents all of the time might seem attractive. However, for a proven champion like Amanda Nunes, things aren’t quite the same. Nunes was looking to fight tough opponents to climb the ladder back in 2013 when she first entered the UFC.
Now, of course, almost a decade later, those days are long gone. Nunes now has to stop those young and hungry fighters from knocking her off her perch and it probably goes without saying that it can’t be much fun to have to constantly do so.
What does Amanda Nunes really have to prove at this stage? She’s already widely recognized as the greatest female fighter in MMA history and has essentially beaten every other top fighter of her generation.
Sure, sticking around could see Nunes continue that legacy, but it’s a risk. As an older fighter, you can never tell when Father Time might come knocking, allowing a younger foe to pull off an upset.
The truth is that the 'Lioness’ simply doesn’t need to prove anything by fighting younger opponents. Her legacy is intact and the best way for her to cement that would be to walk away.
#1. Nobody is likely to match Amanda Nunes’ legacy anyway
One reason that might keep Amanda Nunes around the UFC, even if she beats Julianna Pena, could be the fear that another fighter could emerge and match or surpass her legacy as the greatest female fighter of all time. After all, nobody expected to see Matt Hughes supplanted as the UFC’s greatest-ever welterweight and yet Georges St-Pierre did just that before Hughes even retired.
Now, nearly a decade after GSP’s UFC welterweight title reign, UFC fans are discussing whether Kamaru Usman might be able to surpass the Canadian, something that would’ve seemed unthinkable a couple of years back. However, it’s highly unlikely that anyone is about to surpass Amanda Nunes’ legacy any time soon.
Not only is the 'Lioness’ one of just four UFC fighters to hold two titles in different weight classes simultaneously, but her record is unlike basically any other fighter in the history of the UFC.
It sounds insane, but Nunes has managed to defeat no fewer than six former or current UFC champions inside the octagon, with two of them, Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko, coming up short against her twice.
While she does have four unavenged losses on her record, it’s probably fair to say that those fights came so long ago now that they can be forgotten. After all, the last woman to beat her, Cat Zingano, doesn’t fight in the UFC anymore.
Basically, the chance of any other female fighter matching her record and legacy is practically out of the question. So with such a legacy intact, she ought to consider walking away.
