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It has not even been a week since former UFC double champion Amanda Nunes retired from the sport at UFC 289, but she already has plans for her post-fighting career. Having defeated Irene Aldana via unanimous decision last Saturday, the Brazilian officially called it a day as a mixed martial artist.
Now, although the ‘Lioness’ intends to spend some quality time with her family for the time being, Nunes knows she cannot be away from MMA for the rest of her life.
Can Amanda Nunes help make future champions?
In an interview with Combate, Nunes explained how she wants to stay close to mixed martial arts and feels like she still has something to offer as a coach. Should things go according to plan, the Lioness dreams of starting her own WMMA team, in order to help other female mixed martial artists find success and even become UFC champions themselves.
“I love this sport. I’ve got my gym, I’ve got some girls over there. I’d love to help out. I have so much to offer. I’m a double champion, I know a lot of stuff. I can make another fighter become a champion. I know all about this game. The mental aspect, how to be a good at it, how to develop a strategy. My team and I really understand this. We’re building a strong team in the future.”
Retiring at UFC 289 was always the plan
Amanda Nunes’ retirement may have come as no surprise to most fans who were paying attention to some of her interviews leading up to UFC 289. Although the Brazilian tried to keep it a secret ahead of her match against Irene Aldana in order to focus on the title fight, she knew that most media members seemeed aware of it. Nevertheless, the former double champion preferred to only confirm their guesses after the deed was done.
“(I knew I was going to retire) when I signed the contract for this fight. I tried to hide it from you (the media), but you always seem to be in control of the situation. I didn’t want to focus on that, I wanted to focus on the fight. I didn’t want to be talking about retirement all the time, but I still did. Imagined if I had said ‘Yes, I am going to retire’. It would be like this all the time. But yes, I knew it all along.”
Amanda Nunes made history in the UFC
Amanda Nunes (23-5) retired from the sport with what seems to be an almost unanimous understanding that she is the greates female mixed martial artist of all-time. During her UFC tenure, the 35-year-old only lost two fights (Cat Zingano and Julianna Pena) out of 18 and managed to beat one of those opponents (Pena) in a rematch.
The Brazilian holds wins over all of the most decorated mixed martial arts of her generation, including former UFC champions, Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Germaine de Randamie, Miesha Tate and Julianna Pena. As a two-division champ, Nunes retired from the sport with six title defenses in the bantamweight division and two more at featherweight.
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