Amanda Nunes retires after dominating performance

When it’s all said and done Amanda Nunes may go down as the greatest combat fighter that’s ever put on a pair of gloves. Nunes retired on Saturday night after a dominant performance. Nunes dominated two women’s divisions while making history as the first fighter to retire as a current two division world champion. Nunes' decision came as somewhat of a surprise considering the dominance with which she beat Irene Aldana. Retiring as the reigning UFC women's bantamweight and women's featherweight champions means that new champions must be crowned.

"Double champ forever, baby!""Tonight is the perfect night to retire and live happy forever," Nunes told Daniel Cormier as the crowd cheered, before dropping down to the floor and giving her belts a kiss. In Nunes' prime she beat every great womens fighter she faced Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko (twice), Holly Holm, Julianna Pena, and Cris Cyborg.

Some of the early plans for the vacant belts are UFC women's bantamweight championship Julianna Pena vs. Raquel Pennington. Pena and Pennington are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the UFC's official rankings. Pena was originally scheduled to fight Nunes before an injury forced her off the card. Pennington was brought to UFC 289 as the official backup. As for the featherweight title UFC president Dana White suggested the women's featherweight division could retire with Nunes. It's a division with barely any fighters and the title hasn't been defended since 2021. There aren't even UFC women's featherweight rankings.

Nunes wasn’t the only victorious Brazilian on Saturday as former lightweight champion Charles Olivera rebounded after losing his belt to Islam Machaeav at UFC 280. Olivera crushed Beneil Dariush. Olivera firmly jumps ahead of the line and will be looking for a championship rematch in the near future.