Get ready fight fans we are officially in International Fight Week which means only one thing, UFC 200 is this Saturday night. Considered by some as the greatest fight card ever, UFC 200 features two title fights, the return of Brock Lesnar and so much more.
Cupcake and The Lioness: A Tate-Nunes Preview
However, we are going to focus in on the second title fight; which pits champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate defending her title for the first time against Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes.
Tate is coming in on an emotional high after realizing a life long dream at UFC 196, when she put then champion, Holly Holm, to sleep via a rear naked choke. Tate now walks into UFC 200 on a five-fight win streak.
Her striking game is ever improving under striking coach, Jimmy Gifford, and throughout this five-fight win streak she has been able to land with great counter punches. All of this is added into an incredible ground game as the former wrestling standout uses fantastic level changes to set up take downs, submissions and her patented half guard ground and pound in which she uses nasty elbows to the head and is able to control her opponent’s arm at the same time.
Many see Nunes as the dark horse of UFC 200 because not many people know about her or who she is. Since breaking into the UFC in August of 2013, “The Lioness” has won five out of her six fights in the UFC. Her only blemish is a TKO loss to Cat Zingano. Of Nunes’ five wins since breaking into the UFC, four of them have come by way of first round finishes (four TKO’s and one submission).
As Tate is a grappler with an ever-improving standing game, Nunes is a boxer with an ever-improving ground game. She loves to stand and use her boxing skills, which are under the tutelage of American Top Team coach Mike Brown, who believes she can finish anyone in one punch. Just like Tate, Nunes looks for those great level changes to set up her takedowns which automatically lead to her throwing nasty elbows looking for a finish. Any way you look at this fight it is sure to provide some very technical aspects that any fight fan would love to watch.
Will Tate be able to come away with her first successful title defense? Or will the UFC women’s bantamweight division have its first international champion?
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