Joe Rogan interviews Amanda Nunes after a UFC fight (Getty)
It’s the fighters dream – get on top without taking much damage and retire with a healthy purse and a healthy body, but the reality is not many get to do it, it is a dangerous and tough sport – not to mention that many who often head into retirement often get bored, get back into the sport, and often notice a sharp difference in the level of competition.
Look at Georges St Pierre returning to fight Bisping after retiring, although he won the fight he did take some damage – not something you want after being off for some time.
The latest name that we may see added to this list is none other than reigning bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
The lioness recently stated that she feels she has nothing to do within the sport. She already is the first woman to hold both bantamweight and featherweight titles and also the only athlete in UFC history to defend a belt whilst simultaneously holding a second.
Something that others in the same position such as McGregor and Cejudo could never do. If she is to go out this way, however, it’ll be very much in the same vein as the aforementioned Cejudo did – on top with no sign of competition.
This does have the UFC boss a little upset, however, in a statement saying if she did go ahead that ‘I will kill her!’. On a recent podcast, the UFC boss said he was always one to support talks of retirement as if you’re at that point you’re likely ready to do so. He used Daniel Cormier as another example where this just wasn’t the time for Nunes to be talking about retirement as she still has so much to do and that he had been looking to build the entire 145lb division around her.
It does however add to the big list of stars within the sport who defend a few super fights and then retire on the big money, so it isn’t entirely treading new ground either.
Speaking of titles, however, the next big UFC event is just around the corner with a few title cards on the line. Great news for betting fans as despite changes to regulation in the UK which has put a credit card ban in place, as well as a change to the Gamstop initiative making participation mandatory for operators, there are a whole host of legitimate non gamstop casinos and betting sites for fans to use that operate outside of the UK but with similar gaming rules.
For now with Nunes however, it’s a bit of a wait and see. She has beaten every contender in both divisions and there aren’t many fight opportunities for her left, but it would be a shame to have another champ performing at the top level announcing their retirement.
This throws a couple of divisions into a period of uncertainty – it also certainly isn’t a situation the UFC would like after recent controversies around fight pay and some of the biggest stars asking to have their contracts released.
