Amanda Nunes – Syndication Server

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC 300 review, Holloway wins BMF title, Makhachev & McGregor return, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses the fallout of UFC 300 including, Holloway’s BMF win, McGregor’s return, and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate everything around UFC 300:

The UFC reached its 300th pay-per-view event, a big milestone for the Las Vegas-based promotion. Where does this massive event rank in UFC history? On paper, it was a great card, and it delivered as promised.
[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] arguably made the biggest statement on Saturday night. The former UFC featherweight champion knocked out [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] in brutal fashion with one second remaining in the fight for the BMF title. So what’s next for Holloway? Should he stay at 155 pounds or go back to 145? Holloway has many options after this career-defining win.
On top of Holloway’s win, there were several other important lightweight bouts, as well as other lightweight bookings announced: [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] defeated former champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag], [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] stopped Jalin Turner and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] picked apart Jim Miller. Additionally, the [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] title defense vs. [autotag]Dutin Poirier[/autotag] was made official, along with the return of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who faces lightweight standout [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in a welterweight bout. Big news and results that heavily impact the UFC lightweight division.
In the main event of UFC 300, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] successfully defended his light heavyweight belt for the very first time, knocking out [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag]. It was a huge win for the Brazilian, who requested a heavyweight fight in a quick turnaround at UFC 301 in Brazil next month.
In the other undisputed title fight, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] defended her UFC strawweight belt against fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]. It was a solid showing by Weili, who logged the second title defense of her second championship reign.
[autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] made a huge splash on Saturday night. In a dominant showing, she submitted former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag], a victory that even caught the attention of former two-division UFC champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]. What’s next for Harrison? Is she a future UFC champion? We unpack it all.
Lastly, several other big storylines went down at UFC 300. The panel quickly reviews [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s featherweight debut, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s submission win, [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]’ most recent first-round finish and more.

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Photos: All-time UFC women’s champions

Take a look at the history of females who have claimed UFC gold.

From the first-ever UFC women’s champion, Ronda Rousey, to the current crop of titleholders, here’s a look at the females who have captured UFC gold since women first step foot in the octagon in 2013.

Julianna Peña rips Amanda Nunes for contemplating UFC return: ‘She was just doing that retirement for attention’

Julianna Peña was never convinced about Amanda Nunes’ retirement – and she still isn’t.

[autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] was never convinced of [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]’ retirement – and she still isn’t.

Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC), who hung up her gloves after retaining her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana last June, was in attendance for Raquel Pennington’s title-winning performance over Mayra Bueno Silva in this past Saturday’s UFC 297 co-main event.

Nunes said she still feels like a champion when asked about a potential comeback to the octagon and didn’t entirely rule out a return. Peña caught plenty of grief when she booed Nunes during her retirement speech, so she finds the former two-division UFC champion’s comments laughable.

“Here’s the thing that really chaps my ass,” Peña said on “The MMA Hour.” “When I was at her last fight, I was booing because she was going into retirement and I was like, ‘Don’t go into retirement. We have literally the biggest fight in women’s history, a trilogy that’s never been done before. What are you doing saying you’re going to retire? What a joke.’

“It warrants a boo because she’s over there telling Megan Olivi that she’s coming out of retirement. So I was right, and it was ‘Mystic Peña’ once again. Like, they were going to get mad at me and all her fans are upset at me. ‘Why would you boo her? How dare you?’ But it’s like, how dare she? How dare she say that she’s retiring and then one women’s fight later now she’s saying she’s coming back. Get out of here.”

Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) scored a massive upset win over Nunes when she submitted her to become bantamweight champion at UFC 269. Nunes was able to avenge her loss in dominant fashion at UFC 277, and Peña has been eager to settle the score ever since.

“Look, great for business, I’ve been trying to coax her into coming back this entire time.” Peña said. “It’s absolutely beautiful for everyone, and I knew she wasn’t going to be able to stay away. She was just doing that retirement for attention. It’s just ridiculous.”

For now, Peña is turning her attention to newly crowned champion Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC), whom she has history with. Both took part in Season 18 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which Peña won.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

Amanda Nunes not ruling out a UFC return: ‘I still feel a champion, so we’ll see’

Amanda Nunes is not ruling out a return to the UFC.

Well, it looks like there’s a chance [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] may not stick to retirement.

The former two-division UFC champion didn’t say no to a return to MMA when asked about a potential comeback to the octagon. Nunes was present to see Raquel Pennington defeat Mayra Bueno Silva in the co-main event of UFC 297 to win the belt she vacated last June.

Watching the women’s bantamweight title fight, Nunes felt mixed emotions and lighted up a bit of a fire in her. Enough to return? Nunes isn’t so sure.

“I was nervous. I don’t know why, but I was very nervous,” Nunes told ESPN. “It was mixed feelings. I was happy and sad, but when I saw ‘Rocky’ with the belt, I was OK. I wasn’t upset or anything like that. I think I did the right decision – retire and rest a little bit and take care of the babies. I can’t let Nina take care of the babies by herself. Also, just enjoy (life), too. My whole life, I was always fighting and I never really enjoyed my 20s. My 20s passed like that. I’m 35 now. I’m able to go back to Brazil now and stay with my friends and family and enjoy.

“We’ll see what happens. I’m still young and fresh. You never know. We have a lot of things to do, and I have a lot of things to figure out at home. We’ll see what happens.”

Reporter Megan Olivi doubled down and asked Nunes if she was considering a return to the octagon. Part of Nunes does miss fighting, even though she’s enjoying retired life.

“I don’t know. You never know – I’m a fighter,” Nunes said. “This is my job and I love this so much, so I don’t know. I enjoy this, as well, not being in the gym every day and having a normal life and staying a little bit lazy because to be lazy as a fighter is very hard. But you know, I’m still healthy, powerful, smart. I think like a champion. I still feel a champion, so we’ll see.”

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2023 MMA retirement tracker: A list of former UFC champions, legends and more who hung up the gloves

The MMA world already has said goodbye to many retiring fighters in 2023, from former UFC champions to icons of the sport.

MMA is a constantly evolving sport with a revolving door of athletes entering and exiting. Currently, fighters from the era who helped make the sport so popular are beginning to trickle away from competition and hang up their gloves in order to move on to the next chapter in life.

If there’s one thing that’s well known about combat sports retirements, though, it’s that they often don’t last long. The urge to compete, and perhaps more importantly get a payday, will continue to drive fighters back even well beyond their expiration dates.

2023 has seen an uptick in notable fighters announcing they are done with the sport, and we have a list of those who have opted to walk away this year (the list will update as new retirements are announced).

30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Did enough women make our list?

Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are the women on our 30 greatest UFC fighters. Is that it enough?

The UFC’s 30th anniversary date has come and gone, and in the build-up to the milestone date, MMA Junkie counted down its 30 greatest fighters of all time to compete for the promotion.

There was plenty of debate about the entire list from top to bottom, and one of our big talking points was the inclusion of women.

The final list was tabulated through a points system after voting from MMA Junkie’s 12-person staff. Four female fighters made our list – [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] (No. 8), [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] (No. 20), [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] (No. 22), and [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] (No. 27).

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On a special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” the majority of our staff members came together to discuss and debate the finer points of the list. Did enough women make the list, or should any others have been included?

Check out the discussion in the video above, or watch the entire 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time podcast below.

MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Full list and videos

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, this is our definitive list of the promotion’s 30 greatest fighters of all time.

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, MMA Junkie has compiled its definitive list of the 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. We revealed one every day until the anniversary of UFC 1, which took place Nov. 12, 1993.

Our complete rankings, along with videos for each fighter, can be viewed below.

About the list: All 12 members of our staff submitted their own individual 30 greatest UFC fighters list. Each fighter was assigned a corresponding numerical value based on where they were ranked on an individual’s list, i.e. No. 1 = 30, No. 2 = 29, etc. We took those numbers and added them up to get a total number for each fighter to determine the composite ranking of MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time.

30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Amanda Nunes ranked No. 8

Amanda Nunes beat just about every women’s MMA great during her illustrious career, which places her high among our 30 greatest UFC fighters.

The UFC is celebrating its 30th year and to commemorate the milestone, MMA Junkie has compiled its 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. Every day until the anniversary of UFC 1 on Nov. 12 (1993), we will reveal one fighter on our list.

Today, MMA Junkie reporter Farah Hannoun brings you No. 8: [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag].

You can watch Hannoun’s career retrospective on Nunes above; video produced by Abbey Subhan.

Also see:

‘EA UFC 5’ rating release for best women’s bantamweight: Retired Amanda Nunes still on top

Check out the game ratings for the top five women’s bantamweights in “EA UFC 5,” the top two of which are not active in the division.

With the release of the “EA UFC 5” video game rapidly approaching, fans are wondering who the best characters in each weight class will be.

MMA Junkie will have the answer to some of those unknowns, as ratings are starting to be unveiled ahead of the Oct. 27 launch (with access on Oct. 24 with purchase of the Deluxe Edition) for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

The countdown continues with the women’s bantamweight division, which does not currently have a champion after arguably the best female fighter in UFC history, Amanda Nunes, retired from competition earlier this year.

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Check below for a countdown of the top five rated women’s 135-pound fighters from “EA UFC 5,” who have their striking, grappling and health come together under a five-star system to create an overall rating out of five.

Valentina Shevchenko holding hope for Amanda Nunes trilogy: ‘I still plan to be around’

Valentina Shevchenko hasn’t lost hope on a potential trilogy with Amanda Nunes.

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LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] hasn’t lost hope on a potential trilogy with [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag].

Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) will look to reclaim the women’s flyweight title when she rematches champion Alexa Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) Saturday in the main event of Noche UFC at T-Mobile Arena. The event streams on ESPN+.

Outside of her recent upset submission loss to Grasso, Shevchenko has only lost twice in the octagon, both to Nunes. Shevchenko is adamant she won their rematch at UFC 215, but the judges awarded Nunes the split decision win. With Nunes hanging up her gloves in June, Shevchenko had some nice words to say about her former rival.

“First of all, Amanda – she’s an amazing fighter,” Shevchenko told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “She did amazing things in this sport and I feel that many people, they’re kind of starting to judge a little bit, to say, ‘Oh she’s retired.’ But I want to say no one has the right to judge a fighter who did that much.”

After losing to Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) a second time, Shevchenko returned to flyweight where she ruled the division for four years. Nunes continued to dominate bantamweight, but their paths never crossed again. Despite Nunes being retired, Shevchenko isn’t ruling out a rubber match.

“I think our second fight, she didn’t win,” Shevchenko said. “I think I won that fight. Many people think the same, and what I can say right now? If in the future sometime she feels like she rested, she refocused, she feels she wants to come back, I still plan to be around. We still will maybe have this opportunity.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.