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BY TODD MARTIN
DEC 17, 2019
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
* * *
Amanda Nunes, Max Holloway and Kamaru Usman each entered UFC 245 on Saturday with aspirations of further solidifying their legacies as great champions. All three competitors were at different points in their careers and had opponents who could challenge them in different ways, but the hope is always that a major title fight will inspire the sort of performance that will define a fighter in a positive way for years to come.
Nunes has already gone the furthest in creating a positive legacy for herself. She has run through many of the best female fighters of all-time in short order—a run on par with any in the history of the sport. What would help Nunes more than anything at this stage is being taken to the limit by a formidable opponent and pulling out victory. In the process, she could prove that earlier career losses in which she faded late were reflections not of enduring liabilities but rather of a fighter who hadn’t yet fully come into her own.
By winning so emphatically on so many occasions, Nunes left open the question of what would happen if she was really challenged. The closest that came to happening was against Valentina Shevchenko, another great fighter Nunes managed to best on two separate occasions. However, each of those fights was extremely close. In the first, Shevchenko dominated the third round after losing the first two. The second fight saw fans, media and judges closely divided as to who should have won.
Neither of those fights saw Nunes emphatically snatch away victory from an opponent who seemed to be in control, like Anderson Silva did against Chael Sonnen or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira did against Mirko Filipovic. Nunes, of course, doesn’t need that type of fight to prove her greatness given what she has already accomplished. However, nothing would mean more for her resume than that.
Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/The-Bottom-Line-Building-Legacies-167635#jvheOdYtO7QtwVCG.99
DEC 17, 2019
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
* * *
Amanda Nunes, Max Holloway and Kamaru Usman each entered UFC 245 on Saturday with aspirations of further solidifying their legacies as great champions. All three competitors were at different points in their careers and had opponents who could challenge them in different ways, but the hope is always that a major title fight will inspire the sort of performance that will define a fighter in a positive way for years to come.
Nunes has already gone the furthest in creating a positive legacy for herself. She has run through many of the best female fighters of all-time in short order—a run on par with any in the history of the sport. What would help Nunes more than anything at this stage is being taken to the limit by a formidable opponent and pulling out victory. In the process, she could prove that earlier career losses in which she faded late were reflections not of enduring liabilities but rather of a fighter who hadn’t yet fully come into her own.
By winning so emphatically on so many occasions, Nunes left open the question of what would happen if she was really challenged. The closest that came to happening was against Valentina Shevchenko, another great fighter Nunes managed to best on two separate occasions. However, each of those fights was extremely close. In the first, Shevchenko dominated the third round after losing the first two. The second fight saw fans, media and judges closely divided as to who should have won.
Neither of those fights saw Nunes emphatically snatch away victory from an opponent who seemed to be in control, like Anderson Silva did against Chael Sonnen or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira did against Mirko Filipovic. Nunes, of course, doesn’t need that type of fight to prove her greatness given what she has already accomplished. However, nothing would mean more for her resume than that.
Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/The-Bottom-Line-Building-Legacies-167635#jvheOdYtO7QtwVCG.99
