I am proud to announce that Amanda Nunes is the 2018 Big Bad Blog Fighter of the Year. There was only one other fighter under consideration. But after her big win on Saturday, Amanda was the only choice. I don't know what I would have done if she lost. But I'm glad she won. Amanda was born May 30, 1988 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Her sister took her to a gym and she started training. I first heard of Amanda when she beat veteran fighter Vanessa Porto on Dec. 12, 2009. That fight was not taped but in Brazil it's very unusual for an inexperienced fighter to beat an established veteran. Fortunately Amanda's next fight was streamed live on Sherdog. And she beat another experienced fighter Ediane Gomes by second round TKO. My guess is Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou was also watching because Amanda made her Strikeforce debut with a 14 second TKO win over Julia Budd on Jan. 7, 2011. At the time she was training at AMA Fight Club in New Jersey who had a working agreement with her Brazilian trainers. Amanda dropped to Bantamweight for her next fight against Alexis Davis. She started out OK. I thought she won round one. But she ran out of gas and lost by second round TKO. Her endurance has always been her big weakness. Amanda moved to the US to train at MMA Masters in Miami. She went 1-1 in Invicta and then signed with the UFC. She won her first two fights and then lost to Cat Zingano. Like her other losses, Amanda ran out of gas. This is when she moved to American Top Team and she's now on an eight fight winning streak. She also met her fiancee Nina Ansaroff. She won the UFC Bantamweight Championship from Miesha Tate with a first round rear naked choke. Since then Amanda has defended the title against Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko and Raquel Pennington. And now she has won the Featherweight belt with a win over the seemingly unbeatable Cris Cyborg. And that win is what makes Amanda my 2018 Big Bad Blog Fighter of the Year. Congratulations.
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