Quote: Amanda Nunes ‘Hits Like A Man’

American Top Team (ATT) coach Conan Silveira was not surprised in the least bit by Amanda Nunes’ dramatic knockout of Cris Cyborg at UFC 232.

Since that historic night, Nunes has been anointed the greatest women’s fighter to ever compete in MMA. Silveira never doubted his pupil. He recently revealed he ‘knew’ she would win the belt:

“I knew that we were leaving that night with the belt,” Silveira said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.

Silveira’s Take

Silveira opened up about their strategy for the fight. He believed it was a mistake for Cyborg to stand and trade with Nunes. That’s a bold statement, as Cyborg was by far the most feared knockout artist in women’s MMA. But Nunes is too precise for that, Silva said:

“We had the strategy. She was really well-trained for any situation the fight would [bring]. What happened was, Amanda is extremely dangerous when she sees an opening. And I think it was a big mistake from Cyborg to try and exchange with her. [Amanda] is very precise. And she has extremely heavy hands, and that’s the way the fight finished—Amanda knocking her out.”

According to Silveira, some male fighters that train at ATT don’t want to go toe-to toe-with Nunes in sparring sessions. But the “Lioness” doesn’t train with any women either. It’s only a few male fighters that train with, and her coach said she hits like one of them:

“Amanda doesn’t have any girl training partners. She only has male training partners. It’s not every fighter that trains with her, some of the guys don’t like to train with her because she hits hard. I think that’s pretty much a good explanation for her: she hits like a man,” he said.

A Complete Fighter

Nunes is not a one-trick pony, however. As her coach explains, it’s not just her power that makes her the GOAT. She is a complete fighter with all the tools to respond in any situation:

“You have to compare a complete MMA fighter to the best actors. When you’re acting and you can only try to be one type of character, you wanna be the good guy. But being the good guy in every movie isn’t going to win you an Oscar. [Amanda] is an actor or actress that can play anything. It doesn’t matter. You see it in acting. And you see it in fights; she plays a different character for every fight.

“Amanda has all the tools. [It’s not like she only knows] a little bit on the ground and a little bit of striking, she speaks fluently everywhere. Like I said, for every situation that happens, she knows how to answer the question,” he said.