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Let's Talk GOATs
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First off, I hate that acronym. Greatest Of All Time Someone put it together and started calling high-level athletes GOATs. A goat is an animal, sometimes used to symbolize the devil. Why that became a term of respect probably takes looking into, but we don’t have time for that, and that’s not why you subscribe to this list. This weekend, at UFC 334, Amanda Nunes, who has been called the above, is returning to MMA to face the current women’s bantamweight champion, Kayla Harrison. Harrison’s MMA career was molded in the WSOF/PFL days. Some of the opponents were made to give her the experience she needed to get to where she is now. Still, Olympic athletes are cut from a different cloth. They’ll go above and beyond to make sure they are the best at what they do, and I know Harrison is no different. I’ve seen her moved to tears when she won, and the reason for it was her own criticism of herself. Their difference is, she has a road paved for her in MMA, and Nunes cannot say the same thing. Nunes lost her first MMA fight in a promotion people wouldn’t know. Then, fought her way up the regional scene to Strikeforce, Invicta FC, and then the UFC. When she got there, she was a filler fighter on their undercards, but she won in spectacular fashion. She lost a few, then started winning more than a few. Then, she won the title from Miesha Tate at UFC 200. When another well-known Judoka turned MMA fighter decided to come back to MMA after a loss and time off, Nunes welcomed that fighter back, and all the media was about the return of that fighter, with barely any focus on Nunes. The fighter was Ronda Rousey, and this is how that went:
GOAT status is earned by the quality of opponentsThe list of Nunes is a who’s who in women’s MMA, one of them being another GOAT, Cris Cyborg. This is something you should compare to one other thing and make a note of. (with this notebook if you want) Oh, that other thing? Harrison is coming off recovering from surgery. She still brings the Olympic-level preparation and mindset that has made her champion, and could keep her champion. But this is not new to Nunes. They have also trained with each other in the past, so they already know what to expect from each other when they go 100%. As I write this, Nunes is the underdog against Harrison. It looks like her time away is the reason to support that. But that was healthy time away. Coming off a win. On her own terms. There's a difference between healthy time away to refresh and recharge, especially after being a two-division champion, and recovering from surgery due to overtraining or whatever it was with Harrison's neck. I’m not sending you this to tell you who to pick, but if there were an underdog to like on UFC 334, Nunes is definitely it. As far as the Greatest Of All Time... ...time is infinite, and there will always be GOATS. 😉 Taking notes on this and other events? Grab your physical notebook on Amazon for cheap! [📓Here] ➡Follow me on 𝕏: @Carbazel 📘 My books: Bow and Arrow Mysteries (my fiction writing) 📩 Mixed Martial Answers on Substack 📓 Fight Night Card Companion Notebook: on Amazon 📃 Make your own Fight Night Card Companion: PDF 🎥 My YouTube channel: The Blogboard Jungle 📸 IG: @Carbeerzel |
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I'm a writer and podcaster who writes a lot about combat sports, martial arts culture, and entertainment. Subscribe and join over 1,000 readers every week!
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