Nina Nunes will not be one of those warriors that reconsiders their decision to retire at the eleventh hour. She has completed it, and she guarantees that things will go differently this time.
Amanda Nunes (11-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) took off her gloves after scoring a victory by a split decision over Cynthia Calvillo (9-5-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) on Saturday night at UFC on ESPN 41. She then placed them in the center of the cage and made the proclamation that her career is over.
According to Nunes, who made her debut in mixed martial arts (MMA) just about a year short of 12 years ago in September 2010, this move has been in the works for quite some time. Nunes made her MMA debut just about a year shy of 12 years ago. It was supposed to take place a month ago, when she was scheduled to compete against Calvillo; however, the match was postponed because Nunes took ill on the day of the fight, which forced the competition to be postponed.
Nunes stated that she lives a rather stressful life as she attempts to be a mother with her wife Amanda Nunes, who is a two-time champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and given her goals to have more children, she stated that the timing was perfect. Nunes is married to Amanda Nunes, who is a two-time champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“These last few months have been heavy,” Nunes told reporters post-fight at UFC on ESPN 41. “Amanda’s rematch (with Julianna Peña), opening a new gym, moving, having a two-year-old. It’s just been a lot. That emotion of Amanda losing after a long time, I just wanted to secure that while trying to coach her and train at the same time. I always wanted to have more kids, I wanted to have them close together. I’m not doing that comeback again (after having a child), because that was horrible. So, I’m just going to stop and make a couple in a row.”
Nunes cited her victory against Claudia Gadelha at UFC 231, which took place in December 2018, as the highlight of her professional MMA career. After that, she overcame Tatiana Suarez, who was previously unbeaten, in the most competitive bout of her professional career. Then she went on a break of over two years to have a baby, and when she returned to competition in April 2021, she was defeated by Mackenzie Dern.
Although Nunes understood after the defeat against Dern that the next bout would be her swan song, she realizes there’s still a degree of unmet potential when it comes to her career. Despite this, Nunes stated that she is content with the choice that she made. She has stated that she would continue to be involved with the sport in the capacity of a coach and training partner, but she has assured us that we will never see her competing again.
“I know I could’ve gone further in this sport, but I took two years off for a baby, a year off for a knee surgery – all these things adding up,” Nunes said. “I’m just glad I was able to accomplish what I was. … Absolutely not (going to come back). I am done. Completely done. I told myself when I really retired, I would really retire and focus all my energy on whoever is next.”
