Miesha Tate: Amanda Nunes 'Hits Like a Man,' Has The Power to Knock Out Cris Cyborg

A highly anticipated superfight takes place on Dec. 29 at UFC 232 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s featherweight division when 145-pound champion and arguably the best women’s pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Cristiane Justino, takes on bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

According to former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, “Cyborg” will head into the fight as the obvious favorite, given her track record of destroying every opponent the UFC has put in front of her, but warned not to underestimate Nunes, who is more than capable of providing a finish of her own.

Tate has firsthand experience with Nunes’ power from when the pair met in July 2016 and said in a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that the Brazilian “hits like a man.”

“I obviously think Cyborg is going to win, she is the woman to beat and until I see something largely monumental going against Cyborg, she is pretty much going to be the one I always pick against any other woman on this planet,” said the now-retired ex-champion.

“That being said, Amanda hits like a man. I can say first-hand that she hits so hard. And it looks effortless, she is very natural at it. She’s got this falcon-like wingspan, it’s very long,” she added. “Cyborg may be surprised by how hard she gets hit by Amanda. I don’t believe Cyborg is going to want to walk through the punches like she does with every other female she’s ever fought. You’re not going to want to do that against Amanda. She might be smaller than you, but she packs one hell of a punch and she could hurt Cyborg.”

“She has the power to knock Cyborg out, I do believe that. I don’t think it will happen this fight, but if Cyborg doesn’t actually come in with a strategy and just wants to bully Amanda, she might get hurt,” she concluded.