Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole picks the winner of Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes superfight

Buster Douglas didn’t defeat Mike Tyson in 1990 because he kept a powerful jab in Tyson’s face for most of that fateful fight. He didn’t win because he got himself into supreme condition and could keep a consistently high output, even though he did that for the entirety of the fight.

And Douglas didn’t beat the previously undefeated champion because he was able to create angles and keep a distance that made it easier for him to hit Tyson but made it difficult for Tyson to hit him.

Douglas did all of those things extraordinarily well on that memorable night in Tokyo, but the reason Douglas won the heavyweight championship in perhaps the greatest upset in combat sports history is because he wasn’t intimidated.

He knew all too well how good Tyson was, and how hard Tyson could hit. On that one night, motivated by the recent death of his mother, he stuck his head into the mouth of the lion and lived to tell about it.

To defeat featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino on Saturday at The Forum in Inglewood, California, in their bout in the co-main event of UFC 232, bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes needs to be equally fearless.

Cyborg is the most fearsome fighting female in the history of women’s combat sports. She’s won 20 consecutive fights over a 13-plus-year span, most of them one-sided drubbings.

Nunes must confront the hardest puncher in the history of women’s MMA, and the physically strongest woman, as well. Cyborg’s feats of strength are legendary, but nothing is more amazing than the time when ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz caught her in a triangle choke.

In order to get out, Justino lifted Ortiz while Ortiz’s legs were around her neck, choking her, and slammed him. Ortiz was out of competition and weighed around 225 pounds at the time, but it was jaw-dropping to see the raw power she displayed in that move.

This isn’t a weight-lifting competition, though. It’s a fight, and Nunes has everything she needs to win the fight, physically, at least.

The question is if she believes that. If she does, this could turn out to be a special battle.

Nunes needs to go into the belly of the beast and be willing to exchange with Cyborg. She has to move in and out, go up and down, and mix in a variety of strikes. She needs to move her head and consistently make Cyborg miss.

Cyborg is a physical marvel but if she’s pushed hard and swings and misses a lot, she’ll fatigue. Nunes needs to earn Cyborg’s respect, and that means getting into the pocket and hitting her with punches that she can feel.

Nunes has to find a way to neutralize Cyborg’s right hand, and the best way to do that is to consistently land her own shots.

That comes with a very large risk, because throwing punches opens one to be hit. It’s why Nunes needs to be perfectly conditioned and prepared to move her head.

She can’t afford to be stationary. She can’t stand and admire her work. She’ll be walking a tightrope for all 25 minutes of the fight. One mistake by Nunes and Cyborg has the ability to end it.

Nunes has a good chin, but we don’t know yet if it’s great. She’ll need to prove on Saturday she can take a hard shot because Cyborg is too good not to find a way to connect solidly in a 25-minute fight.

Nunes needs to minimize her mistakes and vary her attack. She needs to back Cyborg up at least some of the time and put her on the defensive. She’s got the jab to help her to do that, but she needs to remember to consistently do it.

The reality of this challenge for Nunes is that she could do all of those things and still lose this fight, because Cyborg is an all-time great.

But Nunes has the tools to be able to do it.

On Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 232, look for her to put it all together and defeat Cyborg to become the featherweight champion and the first UFC female to hold belts in two divisions.

Figure Nunes to win a unanimous decision in an epic fight that leaves the crowd roaring when the final bell rings.

More UFC 232 coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Before you judge Jones, here’s a science lesson
• Gustafsson: Shot at Jones is ‘everything I want’
• UFC 232 moved to L.A. because of Jones
• Why Cyborg vs. Nunes could be one for the ages