She is the first female and Brazilian champion of two divisions in the UFC

Amanda Nunes, from Bahia, 31 years old, owns a shy smile outside the octagon, despite her nickname “Leoa”, received right at the beginning of her career in jiu-jitsu. Amanda, like most of the current Brazilians who fight in the UFC (like José Aldo, for example), faced many obstacles in order to win in life and in sport.

But, like a good fighter, she kept going despite all the difficulties and became the first woman champion of two categories in the series, bantamweight and featherweight — the latter conquered with a victory in November over also Brazilian Cris Cyborg, who until then it had been 13 years without losing a fight.

Therefore, the incredible.club decided to tell a little about Amanda’s life trajectory and the difficulties she faced to become a professional fighter and a champion.

Before becoming the dedicated and focused athlete she is today, Amanda was an energetic and very rambunctious child. Her passion for sports started when she was a little girl, still in elementary school, when she fell in love with soccer.

The fighter’s mother, Dona Ivete, was the one who encouraged her to practice all kinds of sports, hoping to reduce her daughter’s pranks.

Gradually, Amanda’s dedication to sports, and the punishments from Dona Ivete (who forbade her to participate in soccer championships when she was up to no good) began to take effect and discipline the athlete. At age 16, she discovered jiu-jitsu, a martial art that would change the course of her career forever.

The desire to learn more and more made her move to another city, and as she didn’t have good financial conditions, she started to live in the gym where she trained. At 4:30 in the morning, she woke up to clean the entire gym with her master. She shared space with other athletes who also had financial difficulties. But they were all men. As a woman, there was only Amanda.

Champion in several jiu-jitsu competitions, the migration to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) would be something natural, and the fighter started to consider the change, inspired by the career of her uncle, José Alves, who already fought MMA.

In Brazil, when she trained, her master always told her that one day she would see her fight in the UFC — Ultimate Fight Championship, the main organizer of MMA fights in the world. And this at a time when the UFC didn’t even have women’s divisions.

Amanda was the first Brazilian to be champion in the UFC, winning the bantamweight belt (up to 61.2 kg), when she beat the American Miesha Tate with a rear naked choke still in the first round of the fight.

After some defenses of the bantamweight belt, in December of last year, Amanda made history by winning the match against the Brazilian Cris Cyborg and became the first woman to hold two belts, also becoming featherweight champion — up to 65.8 kilos.

What do you think of the spaces that women have occupied and conquered?

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