UFC champ Amanda Nunes: Boxing coach gave Ronda Rousey unwarranted striking confidence

LAS VEGAS – After just one punch, Ronda Rousey was clearly in trouble in Friday’s UFC 207 headliner. The woman who delivered that crushing blow, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, noticed it too.

So “The Lioness” did what any apex predator naturally does: She attacked. Confidently. Viciously. Mercilessly.

By the time it was over – a mere 48 seconds after it began – Nunes (14-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) had registered her first title fight defense. She delivered Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), a former champ who returned from a November 2015 title loss to Holly Holm, her second straight defeat. It was the type of thrashing that could make Rousey, whose face was smashed and squished with a barrage of power punches, reconsider her career prospects.

Nunes, though, wasn’t all that surprised by the speediness of her victory, she said.

“I saw (she was hurt) after the first punch,” Nunes told MMAjunkie. “And then it built my confidence to keep it going.”

Sure, Rousey was the 2-1 favorite heading into the fight. However, Nunes, who’s No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings, figured No. 2-ranked Rousey would play right into her strengths. The reason? Rousey’s boxing coach, much-maligned Edmond Taverdyan, had instilled in his prized pupil a false sense of confidence, Nunes said.

“I knew she was going to strike with me; she (thought she could) because her boxing coach told her she has good striking,” Nunes said. “I knew she was going to strike a little bit with me, but when I started to connect with some punches, I knew she was going to start clinching with me.”

Rousey, though, never got that chance. The Olympic judo medalist became an easy target for Nunes’ exceptionally accurate and effective strikes. Rousey was battered, bloodied, bruised and badly embarrassed in a one-sided beatdown.

But did Nunes, a product of Florida-based American Top Team, really expect it to end in less than a minute? In such devastating fashion?

“Yeah,” she said. “The whole time I know it was going to be like this, and I trained like that, like a lioness. And I knew if I had that strategy in the beginning – that if she gave me the opportunity – I could finish her.”

Nunes’ July victory over the-champ Miesha Tate announced her arrival. When it came to promoting UFC 207, though, she took a backseat to her opponent – even despite Rousey’s media blackout heading into Friday’s event.

Nunes, though, didn’t mind that her opponent took the spotlight this time. The way the 28-year-old Brazilian sees it, she just solidified her spot as the most dangerous 135-pound female fighter on the planet. The results speak for themselves. The Tate victory put her on the sports map as the UFC’s first openly gay champion; the Rousey win is further proof of why she has the title in the first place.

“I know the girls can’t take my punches,” she said. “I know that. And it happened tonight.”

For more on UFC 207, check out the UFC Events section of the site.