Amanda Nunes: the two-division UFC champion from Bahia | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

AMANDA NUNES held two UFC titles at once and finished the biggest names of her era quickly. Between 2015 and 2021 she won 12 fights in a row, nine of them title fights.

She went from a small town in Bahia to the UFC Hall of Fame.

Early life

She was born on 30 May 1988 in Pojuca, Bahia, the youngest of three sisters, and her mother is Ivete. UFC.com says she started karate, boxing and capoeira at seven, and judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 16, though a 2016 UFC feature suggests she trained jiu-jitsu earlier. Her nickname, “Leoa” in Portuguese, came from her first gym, whose logo showed two lions, and a coach who liked her aggressive style.

Getting started

In her mid-teens her sister Vanessa took her to Team Carvalho in Salvador, where her first coach was Ricardo Carvalho. Sources differ on her exact age. She won gold at the 2008 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship and the 2009 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Her professional MMA debut, on 8 March 2008 in Salvador, ended in a first-round armbar loss. She then won five straight, and in January 2011 she knocked out Julia Budd in 14 seconds in Strikeforce.

Career chapters

1. 2008Turns professional in Salvador
2. 2013UFC debut, a first-round stoppage of Sheila Gaff
3. 2014Moves to American Top Team in Florida
4. 2016Wins the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 200, then stops Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds
5. 2018Knocks out Cris Cyborg to win the featherweight title
6. 2021Loses her bantamweight title to Julianna Peña
7. 2022Wins the title back from Peña
8. 2023Beats Irene Aldana and retires
9. 2025Inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame

Into the UFC 2013 to 2016

She made her UFC debut at UFC 163 in August 2013 with a first-round stoppage of Sheila Gaff, then stopped Germaine de Randamie. In September 2014 Cat Zingano stopped her in the third round. That year she settled at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. Wins over Shayna Baszler, Sara McMann and Valentina Shevchenko earned her a title shot.

Champion 2016 to 2021

At UFC 200 on 9 July 2016 she fought Miesha Tate for the bantamweight title in the main event, as a +250 underdog, and won by rear-naked choke at 3:16 of the first round. ESPN called her the UFC’s first female Brazilian champion. On 30 December 2016 at UFC 207 she stopped Ronda Rousey, Who’s Who number 8 in 48 seconds. She beat Shevchenko on a split decision in 2017 and stopped Raquel Pennington in 2018. On 29 December 2018 at UFC 232 she knocked out Cris Cyborg, Who’s Who number 39 in 51 seconds to win the featherweight title, ending Cyborg’s 20-fight win streak, and became the first woman to hold UFC titles in two divisions. She then stopped Holly Holm with a head kick, beat de Randamie again, and defended the featherweight title against Felicia Spencer and Megan Anderson.

Peña, Aldana and retirement 2021 to 2023

On 11 December 2021 at UFC 269, Julianna Peña, a +625 underdog, submitted her in the second round. ESPN called it one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. In 2022 she left American Top Team to set up her own private team, and on 30 July 2022 she won the title back from Peña on a unanimous decision. On 10 June 2023 in Vancouver she beat Irene Aldana on a unanimous decision and announced her retirement. She said she had nerve damage in one leg. Later that month she gave up the bantamweight title.

Hall of Fame and return 2025 to 2026

She was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on 26 June 2025 in Las Vegas. That June she announced she would come back to fight the winner of Kayla Harrison against Peña, and Harrison won and called her out. Their title fight, set for UFC 324 in January 2026, was postponed after Harrison had neck surgery.

Style, technique and the corner

How she fights

She fights from an orthodox stance, and UFC.com classes her as a striker. Her punches finished Rousey and Cyborg inside a round, and a head kick finished Holm. At UFC 215 she landed the only two takedowns of the fight against Shevchenko. Her jiu-jitsu shows in her submission wins: rear-naked chokes on Tate and McMann, and a reverse triangle armbar on Anderson. UFC.com credits her with nine first-round finishes in UFC women’s fights, a record.

Teams and gyms

She started at Team Carvalho in Salvador under Ricardo Carvalho. From 2014 to 2022 she trained at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where Mike Brown was among her coaches. In 2022 she formed her own private set-up.

Stories people still tell

1. The Lioness.

   Her nickname comes from the two lions on the logo of her first gym.

2. UFC 200.

   She was moved into the main event of the UFC’s 200th numbered card, and left as champion.

3. Champion and mother.

   In September 2020 her partner, Nina Ansaroff, gave birth to their daughter, Raegan Ann. ESPN said she was the first UFC champion who was also a mother.

Legacy

She holds UFC women’s records for the longest win streak and the most title-fight wins, and she was the third fighter to hold two UFC titles at once. She is married to the former UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and they have two children.