Amanda Nunes dominates Irene Aldana in effortless victory, retires on top | UFC 289

Bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes, collides with up-and-coming boxer, Irene Aldana, TONIGHT (Sat., June 10, 2023) at UFC 289 inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Nunes has more than proven herself as the greatest female fighter of all time. She’s conquered countless challengers, finished most of them, and the one time she slipped up, she quickly earned her revenge. There’s not much left to prove for the two-division champion, which has resulted in retirement questions and theories.

While Nunes has been dominating, Aldana has climbed the ranks. The Mexican boxer has slowly but surely solidified the holes in her ground games, allowing her powerful hands to shine. Nunes is a tall task for anyone, but at least Aldana’s punching power gave her a better chance than most.

Live updates will begin to flow below the moment the two fighters make their way to the Octagon ...

The challenger made the walk first.

Soon followed by the UFC double champion!

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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Round One

Nunes jabs and kicks early, clearly intent on establishing her long distance. The stabbing body kick up the middle seems to be a big weapon for Nunes, who scores an extremely brief takedown. By the midway point in the round, Nunes is flowing forward and sticking her foe with heavy jabs and kicks. Aldana isn’t firing back much. Nunes feinted a takedown then landed a ripping left uppercut. Finally, Aldana connects when Nunes tried to get fancy, cracking the champion with a good counter right. Her first real strike of the fight cuts Nunes. Aldana seems to be finding her range in the closing 30 seconds of the first.

10-9 Nunes

Round Two

Nunes jabs to open the second then returns to the front kick. Aldana’s low kick is starting to land with better consistency. Overall, she’s falling far behind on the volume game though. Nunes is landing at a good clip, sticking hard jabs and low kicks often. Feinting the takedown and coming up firing is working well for the Brazilian also. Really, I don’t know if Aldana landed anything significant outside of a few low kicks this round. Nunes, meanwhile, did a lot of damage and finished the round with a takedown.

10-9 Nunes

Round Three

Aldana commits to moving forward more, but she’s not throwing. Nunes is happy to concede ground while landing more shots. Two minutes into the round, the Brazilian throws her foe to the canvas effortlessly. This time, she maintains top position. Nunes doesn’t do too much from top control, but she falls off back mount with a minute remaining. Can Aldana do anything with those 60 seconds? No.

10-9 Nunes

Round Four

Nunes is in complete control. Aldana is a bit more aggressive, but it’s not resulting in more strikes landed. Nunes lands a brutal elbow that cuts her foe open. The only silver lining I can find for Aldana halfway through the round is that she’s denied a couple takedowns. Uh oh, she just got taken down. Aldana pops back up ... and throws nothing. Then, she tries to fire a 1-2 and eats two nasty overhands. Aldana can take a shot, but she’s eating lots of ‘em. Vicious round from the champion.

10-8 Nunes

Round Five

Within the first minute, Nunes overpowers her foe along the fence and lands in top position. Nunes is content to establish herself within guard and land short strikes. With two minutes remaining, Nunes passes into full mount. She never fully lets loose a stream of ground strikes and is largely content to chip away until the bell. Why not? It’s another dominant win for the champion, who does hammer away in the closing ten seconds.

10-8 Nunes

Final Result: Amanda Nunes defeats Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-43)

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