Two right hands by Amanda Nunes did more than just drop poor Sara McMann to the mat Saturday night in Nashville—though they did that in resounding fashion, forcing the muscular former Olympian to collapse to the ground and give in to the storm that soon surrounded her. The cringe was contagious as McMann's body disobeyed every ounce of training and gave in to the animal instinct to protect yourself at all costs.
More important than the rear-naked-choke, first-round finish, the 27-year-old rangy Brazilian punched her ticket and officially entered her name in the Ronda Rousey sweepstakes. In women's MMA, that's the most valuable prize of all.
"I don’t need to talk," Nunes said at the post-fight press conference. "I’m going to step in the cage and do my thing. My next fights are going to be like this—I’m going to win more bonuses and knock people out. Submit. For sure, I’m going to have my title shot soon."
We've written thousands of words about who's next for Rousey. Around the Internet, that number no doubt runs into the millions. But words are wind—and for three years it's barely mattered who was next. It's hard to care about someone you know will be in your life for a minute or less.
No one comes to the picture show to see the opening-act henchman who gets dispatched before the first plot twist. They come to see Super Woman—and right now, Ronda Rousey is wearing the cape.
Considering the lack of time and resources spent building any women's bantamweight not named Rousey, the assembly-line athletes who have bravely walked to the cage against her might as well have had serial numbers tattooed on their foreheads. Learning their names was more effort than it was worth.
Rousey, an avid video game player, likely realizes she's faced nothing but NPC's to this point. The boss at the end of the level has yet to make herself known. With shocking speed, Rousey has toppled almost every contender like a line of dominoes, each a variation on one theme—victim.
Instead of a growth curve, we've seen diminishing returns, latter contenders losing in increasingly embarrassing fashion. Most of these women, though plenty skilled, lack Rousey's pure athleticism and physical prowess.
Not so for Nunes. Still more potential than polish constitutes her game. But, as Bloody Elbow's Nate Wilcox writes, there is a lot to be excited about:
The blend of skills she showed against McMann might make her the biggest threat to Rousey's title currently in the UFC women's bantamweight division.
She showed sharp and skillful striking on the feet and reversed the Olympic wrestler on a takedown attempt. Once Nunes was on top of McMann the destruction was as methodical as it was inevitable.
In a perfect world, Nunes would be allowed time for more seasoning. After all, just last September she snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Cat Zingano and has had problems in the past when a fight slips into the latter rounds.
But this isn't a perfect world, and the cupboard at 135 pounds is bare. Nunes may not have polish, but she's solid silver, a top-shelf prospect with the raw physicality to challenge Rousey. In today's UFC, that's more than good enough to serve the Queen.
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