Strikeforce may finally have a legitimate 145-pound challenger for champion Cris Cyborg.Amanda Nunes, a 22-year-old Brazilian who goes by the nickname "The Lioness of the Ring," absolutely destroyed Julia Budd at Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card. Nunes has now won six straight fights by knockout or TKO, and although she's probably not ready for Cyborg just yet, it's hard to see how she's not the top contender in the Strikeforce 145-pound women's division.
The fight consisted of Nunes landing a couple of inside leg kicks, followed by a left hand that dropped Budd and a bunch of hammer fists on the ground. The referee was too slow to stop it; Nunes landed about five hammer fists after Budd was out.
Frankly, Budd wasn't ready for an opponent of Nunes' caliber, but that points to the problem Strikeforce has had in its 145-pound division: It just isn't a very deep or competitive weight class. Perhaps Nunes can compete with Cyborg, which no one else has been able to do.
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