After finishing Holm in the first round of their clash at UFC 239, Nunes used her wrestling to neutralize de Randamie’s striking in their meeting at UFC 245, dropping a round to the challenger, but turning in an otherwise stellar effort that left many observers underwhelmed because the champion fought tactically.
This nitpicking of champions and their performances only comes up once a competitor has risen to an entirely different level than everyone else in their division (or divisions, in Nunes’ case), so the criticisms could actually be considered a badge of honor.
UFC 259 EMBEDDED: Episode One | Episode 2
Or they could just be more noise for Nunes to ignore as she continues taking aim at the UFC record book and chasing the goals she’s set for herself.
“I feel like when you get this belt, you think about defending it because it’s one thing to get it, but another thing to keep it and to stay on top,” offered the thoughtful champion. “When I defend the title, I think about what am I going to do next? Well, I’m going to keep defending, keep making history, and try to envision the next challenge.
“I reached my other goals, so what is the next challenge?” added Nunes, who has beaten every woman to hold championship gold in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, as well as reigning flyweight titleholder Valentina Shevchenko. “(The next challenge is to) beat the record for the most title defenses. I want to do it better than the guys.
“I think about that. I want to do what they think a woman can’t do. I want to keep fighting, keep defending this title until I break that record.”