Amanda Nunes names her WMMA Mt. Rushmore
Amanda Nunes is arguably the greatest women's fighter of all time, so it's only natural that she was asked who she thinks belongs on the WMMA Mt. Rushmore.
Amanda Nunes' legacy in women's MMA is arguably unmatched. Her accomplishments speak for themselves, so she has a few thoughts about who belongs on the WMMA Mt. Rushmore.
Amanda Nunes omits Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg
In a recent appearance on the Deep Waters podcast, Amanda Nunes was asked by UFC analyst Din Thomas about the four women she believes deserve to be on the women's MMA Mt. Rushmore. She first included herself, as she is the only two-division champion in UFC women's history, having held the 135-pound and 145-pound belts. Furthermore, she has beaten more champions than anyone else in the UFC women's divisions, while holding the record for the most UFC title wins amongst women, along with numerous other records that have many hailing her as the greatest women's fighter of all time.
The second fighter she named was former foe Valentina Shevchenko, the dominant former UFC women's flyweight champion, who is herself an all-time great. However, rather than immediately include the likes of Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg, she chose former UFC women's strawweight champions Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili instead, despite having mentioned Cyborg in passing moments prior (1:33:31):
"I'll say me first, Valentina, Joanna, and Weili. Yeah."
While UFC lightweight legend Dustin Poirier tried to insert Cyborg back into the conversation, he was immediately cut off by ex-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who instead asked whether Rousey could be considered a top four all-time great. Nunes, for her part, was open to it.
"Yeah, why not? I mean, I feel like because she messed up a lot, she could have made a lot better her whole situation with the UFC."
Nunes faced both Rousey and Cyborg at UFC 207 and UFC 232 respectively, knocking them out in round one. The win over Rousey was a successful women's bantamweight title defense, while the Cyborg win won Nunes the women's featherweight title, which she went on to twice defend. After initially retiring at UFC 289 following a unanimous decision win and successful women's bantamweight title defense against Irene Aldana, 'The Lioness' has returned.
She will now face ex-American Top Team teammate Kayla Harrison, who holds the 135-pound belt, for the title at UFC 334.
