MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the co-main event of UFC 259, a five-round UFC women’s featherweight title bout between champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Megan Anderson. The event takes place on Saturday, March 6 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Amanda Nunes (-1050)
Nunes (20-4) is the UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion. The 32-year-old Brazilian joined the UFC back in 2013 and has since then racked up an incredible 13-1 record in the promotion. She has fought and defeated many of the greatest female fighters of all time, including Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Germaine de Randamie, Holly Holm, and Felicia Spencer, with her lone UFC loss coming to Cat Zingano. Nunes is, quite simply, the greatest female talent the sport of MMA has ever known. She is incredibly well-rounded with powerful striking on the feet, deadly submissions on the ground and improved wrestling to get it there. Nunes is currently riding an 11-fight win streak and she hasn’t lost in nearly seven years. Not surprisingly, she’s a massive betting favorite to defeat Anderson this weekend and defend her belt.
Megan Anderson (+675)
Anderson (11-4) is one of the top women’s featherweights in the UFC, though there are currently no rankings for the 145lbs division. The 31-year-old Australian is the former Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion and she has done well in the UFC since coming over in 2018. Since joining the UFC, Anderson is 3-2 with wins over Cat Zingano, Norma Dumont, and Zarah Fairn, with losses to Holly Holm and Felicia Spencer. Standing at 6’1″ and blessed with a long reach, Anderson is one of the biggest female fighters in the UFC, and that size and strength have allowed her to win several fights inside the Octagon. With knockout power on the feet and submission skills on the ground, Anderson is a very dangerous fighter. But she has an uphill climb here against Nunes, no doubt.
Fight Breakdown: This looks like it could be a quick night at the office for Nunes. She is better than Anderson everywhere in this matchup. The only way I can see Anderson winning this fight is to stay at her range on the feet and land a head kick or something. Otherwise, I see Nunes dominating the fight anywhere it goes. She’s just much faster on the feet and defensively adept that I have a hard time seeing Anderson land on her. But instead of risking standing and trading with Anderson, I can see Nunes using her wrestling and taking this fight to the mat. We saw Anderson get schooled on the mat against Spencer, and Nunes is even better on the mat than Spencer is. I could honestly see this fight ending very early if Nunes is able to get the fight to the ground and lock up a submission. Anderson is one of the best women’s featherweights in the sport, but going up against an all-time great like Nunes, it’s not going to be enough. Nunes should win comfortably inside the distance.
