Tag: Amanda Nunes

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:

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.

‘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.

Amanda Nunes doesn’t see herself fighting anytime soon: ‘My legs have nerve damage from over the years’

Amanda Nunes hasn’t had a change of heart since hanging up her gloves in June.

[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] hasn’t had a change of heart since hanging up her gloves in June.

Former dual-champion Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) retired after a lopsided decision win over Irene Aldana to retain her bantamweight title at UFC 289.

Considering that she’s still performing at an elite level, “The Lioness'” announcement came as a surprise to many. But Nunes says the milage on her body has become too much.

“I cannot kick as much anymore,” Nunes told Sports Illustrated. “My legs have nerve damage from over the years. So things are starting to get harder for me. My shoulders need rest, my knees. Even my teeth need work after getting hit in the mouth so many times. I don’t see myself back in the cage any time soon. I am looking forward to a break. My body needs this.”

Nunes was originally slated to face Julianna Peña in a trilogy bout at UFC 289, before an injury forced Peña out of the fight and she was replaced by Aldana. Regardless of who she fought that night, Nunes says her mind was already set.

“That week, the idea of retiring slowly crept up on me,” Nunes said. “Fight week is intense. I had so much to do. It was very tiring. Every interview, I was asked, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I definitely felt exhausted. I needed a break. The weight cut, everything. I never thought I would have the strength to retire, but I need this break. It was the right moment to go.”

While Nunes seems content as a retired fighter, she didn’t rule out an eventual return to competition.

“I need to take care of my body and give it a break,” Nunes said. “We’ll see what happens in the future.”

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Kayla Harrison sad she won’t get to fight Amanda Nunes: ‘My timing in MMA is pretty brutal’

Kayla Harrison admits she sometimes wishes she hadn’t gone for a second Olympic gold medal so a fight with Amanda Nunes could’ve been more realistic.

The retirement of former UFC double champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] means [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] won’t get one of her long-desired fights.

Nunes, who held the UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight titles, called it a career after defeating Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June. Harrison has always wanted to test herself against the consensus greatest female fighter of all time, but she’s lost out on that opportunity.

Harrison, the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka and two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion, said her eagerness to fight Nunes, who once was her teammate at American Top Team, was purely rooted in competition.

“I mean, I’m happy for her if she’s happy,” Harrison told ESPN. “I have no animosity towards Amanda. I feel slightly troubled by some of the things that she said about the gym and about the coaches. That, to me, didn’t sit well with me. And I know, however she took the things I said about her, her interpretation of them was not what my intention was.

“My intention always when speaking about Amanda was, ‘Hey, you’re the greatest. I respect that so much. I put so much value on who you are, what you’ve accomplished, what you’ve done, that like, I want that. I want to become that.’ My intention was always from a place of respect but also realness. I’m not going to pretend like I don’t want to fight (her). … I don’t play like that. I’m not like Merab (Dvalishvili), God bless his soul. I’d fight my grandma if she was the greatest.”

With featherweight champion Cris Cyborg opting to re-sign with Bellator, Harrison lost out on another big fight for the time being –unless, of course, Bellator and the PFL merge as has been discussed. She wonders had she transitioned to MMA earlier, if that would have increased her chances of landing these mega fights.

“My timing in MMA is pretty brutal,” Harrison said. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Did I really need a second gold medal? I should have just gone to MMA when I was 22.’ Then I could’ve just been this monster,” Harrison said. “If she’s happy, she’s satisfied, she’s accomplished everything she’s wanted to accomplish, I’m sad for me and I’m happy for her. That’s it.”

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Miesha Tate happy Amanda Nunes retired: ‘There was no way any of us were beating her’

Miesha Tate sees new life for her and the rest of the bantamweight division now that Amanda Nunes is retired.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Miesha Tate[/autotag] sees new life for her and the rest of the bantamweight division now that [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] is retired.

Former dual champion Nunes hung up her gloves after retaining her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June. Nunes started her 135-pound title reign by running through Tate for a first-round submission at UFC 200.

Since then, “The Lioness” finished Ronda Rousey, Raquel Pennington, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm and Megan Anderson in title fights – and racked up numerous other wins, as well. But now that Nunes has retired and the bantamweight belt is vacant, Tate (19-9 MMA, 6-6 UFC) sees herself close to the title picture.

“There was no way any of us were beating her, so thank God,” Tate told MMA Junkie and other reporters Thursday on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet. “Because now the division is wide open, and I believe I’m one fight away (from a title shot). I know that probably sounds wild. Some people are like, ‘Wait a minute.’

“But if you think about it, since my return, I had a really dominant finish win, and then I had a very close decision loss to a top-five girl in Ketlen Vieira. So although I haven’t been super active, I still think with a bang of a comeback at 135 against a top-quality opponent, at least my name could be dropped in the bucket. I’m not saying that I would be picked for sure, but I’d like to at least be talked about in being in contention.”

Tate is 1-1 at bantamweight since she came out of retirement. After losing a unanimous decision to Lauren Murphy in her flyweight debut in July 2022, she decided to move back up to 135 pounds. Tate was booked to face Mayra Bueno Silva in next Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 49 headliner, but a hand injury forced her out and she was replaced by Holm.

Tate currently is rehabbing her hand and is targeting a return in October. She sees two potential opponents that make sense for her next.

“There’s a couple of names that have come to my mind like Irene Aldana because she’s just hot off the press. She just fought for the title, so I feel like that would be a great fight for me,” Tate said. “I also think Yana Kunitskaya – we’re kind of in that similar boat right now, but it was a very close fight her last fight (vs. Karol Rosa), and she went up a weight. So I was still very impressed with her.”

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Julianna Peña: Amanda Nunes rematch was ‘a lot closer than people want to give me credit for’

The fact that Julianna Peña won’t get a trilogy with retired UFC champ Amanda Nunes isn’t sitting right with her.

[autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] doesn’t think the judges’ scorecards accurately reflected her rematch with [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag].

Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who dethroned Nunes with an upset submission at UFC 269, failed to keep her belt in the rematch after she lost a unanimous decision at UFC 277. Peña was knocked down three times and taken down six times by Nunes, prompting one of the judges to score the fight 50-43 in favor of “The Lioness.”

Although the scorecards swayed heavily toward Nunes’ side, Peña never stopped fighting. Peña was eager to settle the score in a trilogy bout, but Nunes ended up retiring.

“I’ll always want to fight her if she decides to return, absolutely,” Peña told ESPN. “There’s fights that are on my bucket list of things that I want to get back, things that I want to do, and she’s definitely one of them. I definitely think she knows that; I know that. Maybe not the general public knows that because all they’re looking at is possibly highlights.

“What I would encourage fans to do is go back and watch that (second) fight and actually take into account, without the commentary or anything, just watch the fight. You’ll see that it was a lot closer than people want to give me credit for. They see the drops, they see me getting knocked down and yeah, it absolutely happened. But I let her take the time to go make those adjustments and revamp her entire style. I felt like it was kind of a snub for her to not let me have that same opportunity.”

Peña is the only fighter to beat Nunes in nearly 10 years. “The Venezuelan Vixen” got her rubber match against Nunes at UFC 289, but she was forced to withdraw due to a broken rib. Nunes faced Irene Aldana instead, and hung up her gloves after beating her.

“I think the biggest thing for me is we are 1-1,” Pena said. “I think I’m the only person on the face of the planet that is allowed or can say or call Amanda Nunes a coward, because we do have unfinished business and I definitely think she found the easy way out in retiring. Injuries happen in the sport. Of course, it’s my fault that I wasn’t able to compete at that time, but she also pulled out of our fight when we were supposed to fight the first time.

“She’s pulled out of many fights in the past. It doesn’t mean that you go retire because of it. It’s just a little frustrating, and I think that I was definitely showing my frustration there cageside, which of course that’s what I’m going to do when they’re sticking the camera in my face and asking me what are my thoughts after every single round. So, I got a little ahead of myself.”

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