Current women's bantamweight Champion Amanda "Lioness" Nuñes (13-4) will face #3 ranked women's bantamweight "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey (12-1) on December 30th at the
T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, Nevada.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT AMANDA NUÑES
Nuñes in 2016 has been on an uprise. She defeated former Bantamweight Champion, Miesha "Cupcake" Tate (18-6) at UFC 200. Inside the octagon "The Lioness" broke Tate's nose and defeated her with a blood choke submission.
At that moment Miesha had no other choice but to tap...
A lot of people doubted Nuñes before that match happened and sided with the Champ; she shocked the world. The women's bantamweight division has been passed 3 times since Ronda Rousey had it.
It is no surprise what Amanda can bring to the table. Her black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and her brown belt in judo should speak about her ground game a little bit. The striking and power behind it is next level.
She rushes in towards opponents a loves to knock people out if they get in her way.
Nuñes is very confident right now as she should be because fight after fight she keeps improving more and more. I don't believe she wants to break her four-fight win streak just yet and I think she isn't even at her ultimate best.
The tools are there for the belt to stay around her waist because in this fight everything matters.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT RONDA ROUSEY
Almost a year has gone by since the historic UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm back in November took place. After "Rowdy" got TKO'd in the second round the women's bantamweight division changed forever.
After that loss she went in hiding for a while, came out from the vampire cave to start doing things for Hollywood, SNL, commercials, YOU NAME IT. It was everything that didn't have to deal with the UFC/MMA fans because after her loss she was grilled by the internet.
It was rather depressing actually.
Everyone knows she is the queen of judo and is rather notorious for defeated her opponents with the infamous armbar that is passed down from her family as tradition. Then she started knocking out the fighters with her fists instead so she felt confident and that makes sense.
Her coach sure did feel that way by giving her the game plan to stand on her toes and YES, that works when the fighter across from you doesn't have a boxing caliber like Holly "The Preachers Daughter" Holm (10-2) does.
(OR EVEN NUÑES for that matter! buuuut we will get into that a little later..)
It is hard to elaborate on where her training is right now because we don't know how often she was been inside the gym training in general after all of this time. She is a tough chick and has proved to overcome a lot of hard things in her life.
If she wants to win this fight there have to be some extreme changes in where she is currently training and who her coach is.
SO WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT ALL OF THIS??
It is hard not to look at the matchup first for what it is. When Ronda had the belt I didn't think back then this was the best opponent for her at the time and I still feel that today. As much as I know what Ronda Rousey has done for women's MMA it doesn't discredit the fact that I don't think she deserves a title match right now.
Thaaaaat's right, I SAID IT.
And my reasoning is because of the way she lost to Holly Holm. "Rowdy" was getting beat UP and no one can deny that the holes in her game that night because they were madly exposed on November 15, 2015, in Melbourne.
The entire world was watching yet rooting for the fighter that got knocked out.
She hasn't fought in the cage since so ring rust could be a real thing for her because it is a little unfamiliar. The screams and cheers from the crowd that seeps through your body as you walk down the aisle.
The talk about suicide right after she lost was a pretty big deal and not wanting to fight anymore. No one knew what her next move was until it was announced that she would be fighting Amanda Nuñes for the bantamweight title.
OK. It is time to get straight to it.
If Ronda Rousey wants any chance of winning against Amanda Nuñes she first needs to get rid of her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan at the Glendale Fighting Club.
That being said there is NO way he can effectively train her for the tools she needs to successfully take down Amanda Nuñes.
The game plan that was set up during UFC 193 was for her to not use any judo possible. In my honest opinion, she should have used that judo to her last expense. It is understandable that Holly's ground defense is basically 100% and it is rather tough to get her on the ground.
But Ronda is an Olympian right?
She can get anyone to the ground if she plays her cards right. The fact that Edmond wanted her to stand up and keep striking with her firsts in the air especially after that 2nd round was by far the worst advice I have ever heard.
*DEEEEEEP BREATH*
Just look at #9 ranked heavyweight Travis "Hapa" Browne (18-5-1), who is Ronda's boo thang, ALSO trains with Edmond and he has lost two fights in a row. What is the justice in that because he should possibly consider leaving too! Ronda's mother was correct when she was exposing Edmond to what he really is.
He is bringing Ronda down and she will never gain her potential remaining complacent with a boxing coach you feel you dedicate your life to.
Go roll on the mats with Damian Maia, hit up the Diaz brothers to work on technical striking, check out a training camp outside of California, aaaaanything but Glendale Fighting Club. There have been so many offers to make her great and move forward, yet there is a block that just isn't allowing her to.
I don't understand why she wouldn't want a rematch against the one person that made her turn away for almost a year? Or a super fight with a woman that wants to rip your head off because you claim to be the best and so does she? How about working your way up as far as getting your feet wet in a sense first before going against AMANDA NUÑES?
All I can see is money.
Of course, the UFC wants her to get her belt back FAST. No one really wants Nuñes to win because their money maker will be broken on the women's side. Would her career be over after that?
Amanda Nuñes is a very tough opponent and her striking is way above the level Ronda's is.
They both go into their opponents pretty fast as the fight is going on either for a quick submission or an early knockout. Amanda has been nothing but serious during her last fights. It is clear she is in her element and it will be very challenging to stop her. Even for Ronda Rousey.
On a different note, the belt has been passed from fighter to fighter so much over the last year that there is no reason for that not to continue. Possibly Ronda comes back just like her old self and magically overcomes the pressure of being the biggest female fighter the UFC has ever seen.
She's a superstar, but everyone is seeing Nuñes as a fighter because she has been here making her dues this entire time.
If I thought about a winner of this fight the only way I can describe it by saying Amanda Nuñes has my brain while Ronda Rousey has my heart. With that said, I think technical fighting with a side of passion is going to win over a superstar with a snake in her boots.
December 30th is going to be a tense night for everyone. Either way, we are going to get something new when 2016 is over and we step into 2017.
AAAAAAND NOW we wait.