Nunes dominates Spencer at UFC 250 to keep featherweight belt

Las Vegas, June 7

Amanda Nunes dominated in almost every way possible to dispatch Felicia Spencer via unanimous decision on Saturday night in a featherweight championship bout at UFC 250 in Las Vegas.

Nunes (20-4) didn’t end the fight early but didn’t have to, outclassing Spencer (8-2) with punches, kicks, takedowns and ground-and-pound en route to her 11th straight victory and first defense of the 145-pound belt. Nunes, who also holds the bantamweight belt, has defended the 135-pound title five times.

Two judges scored the fight 50-44, while one scored it 50-45, although that understates the one-sidedness. Spencer showed tremendous heart just to finish the fight, getting bloodied in the first round and several thereafter, both by punches and elbows. Nunes landed 90 of 181 head strikes, leaving Spencer with a hematoma on her forehead.

Nunes nearly ended it late in Round 4, but Spencer hung on through a rear-naked chokehold for the final several seconds before being saved by the bell.

The rest of the main card featured a number of highlights, including two single-punch knockouts, one of which was a buzzer-beater.

Just before Nunes’ victory, Cody Garbrandt unleashed a right-handed hook that knocked Raphael Assuncao out cold in the final second of the second round of their bantamweight fight. Garbrandt (12-3) had been backed up against the cage, ducked for a moment and came up with a heavy swing that landed squarely on Assuncao (27-8).

In the first fight on the main card, also a bantamweight fight, Sean O’Malley improved to 12-0 with a straight right to the chin of Eddie Wineland (24-14-1) less than two minutes into the first round. O’Malley knew he didn’t have to follow up to finish Wineland, turning to walk away immediately after dropping him. — Reuters