Amanda Nunes - The Ruler

UFC - BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION - FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION

ARCHETYPE: THE RULER

Day 44/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Amanda Nunes is the current UFC Women’s Bantamweight and UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion. That’s right, y’all. She holds the title in two different weight classes.

Nunes was a scrappy, hyperactive kid, raised by a single mom in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. At age 5, she got into some minor trouble at school, and her mom decided to sign her up for capoeira to help build some discipline and use some of that stray energy. It really worked. By age 7, Nunes started doing karate. At 16, she learned jiu-jitsu. At 17, she began learning judo. You want to talk about mixed martial arts, there you have it.

By this time, Nunes was so talented and committed to martial arts that she literally lived in the gym, moving into the gym where she trained every day, which had two lions on its logo crest. From that moment, her trainer began calling her Leoa, or Lioness, and the nickname has stuck ever since.

The Lioness began competing, quickly developed notoriety, and rose to competing internationally. In 2016, she defeated Miesha Tate to become the first openly gay UFC champion in history. Since then, she’s been absolutely dominant, knocking off and knocking out plenty of her opponents.

Nunes is the first woman to become a two-division UFC champion and is widely believed to be the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time. Her 21-4 record includes 13 wins by KO, 4 wins by submission, and 4 by decision. As of June 2, 2020, she is #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Character Archetype: The Ruler

You want to talk about dominance? About staying on top? About being the undisputed champ?

Amanda Nunes has not been defeated in over 5 years. And it’s not for her opponents’ lack of trying. Nunes currently holds UFC Championship titles in two different weight classes—Bantamweight and Featherweight—having won and then successfully defended those titles SEVEN times.

Who are some of the contenders she’s defeated while holding on to her belts? Ronda Rousey. Cris Cyborg. Holly Holm. These women are not cupcakes.

All of this, and some people still don’t give Nunes the respect she has earned. Recently, UFC President Dana White had some words for the haters. “I think it’s because she’s a woman, to be honest with you. First of all, let’s start here. Most of these guys that cover the sport don’t know sh*t about the sport, anyways.”

But a Lioness like Nunes doesn’t concern herself with the opinions of sheep.