The Scorecard | UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana

The G.O.A.T. has left the building. Yes, I hate evaluating careers while they’re still going on, but now that Amanda Nunes has retired, we can address her standing in the history of women’s combat sports, and she is the best to ever do it. Her resume proves it, but what may be most impressive is that early in her UFC career, few were forecasting greatness for a good fighter, but one with a 9-4 record coming off a stoppage loss to Cat Zingano in 2014. But Nunes had the stuff the greats had in terms of determination, work ethic and the willingness to keep learning, and after that Zingano fight, she went 14-1, won two divisional world titles, and beat a Who’s Who of the sport. In my opinion, there is no debate – Nunes was the greatest.

RELATED: Amanda Nunes | Forever The G.O.A.T.

2 – Charles Oliveira

There is – and will always be – only one Georges St-Pierre, so don’t think I’m making those comparisons here. But there’s a sense that another Canadian welterweight - Mike Malott – may just have the potential to reignite the MMA scene north of the border. He was in the spotlight all week, got huge pops from the fans at the fight week press conference and on fight night, and then he went and finished Adam Fugitt in the second round. Yeah, it’s early, but Malott appears to have all the tools – in and out of the Octagon – to make plenty of noise at home and abroad.

UFC 289 Final Results From Vancouver

4 – Dan Ige

Two trips to the Octagon in Canada ended up in two losses for Quebec’s Marc-Andre Barriault, so it was nice to see him get his hand raised last weekend in Vancouver. But more than that, in beating Eryk Anders in the UFC 289 Fight of the Night, it was the spotlight the rugged veteran needed at this point of his career. He’s had his ups and downs, for sure, but in 2023, he’s scored a pair of big wins over Julian Marquez and now Anders, and at 33, he might be in his prime at the perfect time.