COCONUT CREEK, Fla. -- The tattoos that adorn the arms and upper back of Amanda Nunes tell an interesting story about her meteoric rise to stardom and history. 

The owl with menacing red eyes on her left shoulder serves as a reminder of her Brazilian youth (and a rather intense meeting with the bird on her grandmother's porch). The black belt on her right arm represents the foundational role that karate, her first love, and jiu-jitsu played in providing discipline (she has since covered it with a full arm sleeve of armor, topped with a Fleur de Lis). Meanwhile, on the back of her right shoulder, the melding of her face with that of her nickname, the "Lioness," illustrates the complete fighter she has grown to become.

In terms of success, Nunes (17-4) is in a class of her own as the lone female fighter in UFC history to hold world titles in two divisions. She is one of four fighters, regardless of gender, to do so simultaneously. Yet, when sitting with Nunes one-on-one, she is anything but the menacing destroyer she is inside the cage. That's where the playful smile and unassuming humility remind you that this fighting machine is just a simple girl from the coastal city of Salvador, Brazil, whose two greatest love affairs in life seemed to cross paths almost divinely. 

The first love, of course, is for martial arts and the sport that brought her from meager beginnings to worldwide UFC stardom. The second and most rewarding is her fiancee and UFC strawweight contender Nina Ansaroff, whom Nunes met one day when they sparred at her old gym, MMA Masters in Miami. The two have never left each other's side since. 

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"I feel like Nina came into my life to help me grow, and since I met her, everything in our careers has been amazing," Nunes told CBS Sports in May during a sit-down before her training session at American Top Team in Florida. 

Not only have Nunes and Ansaroff become MMA's biggest power couple, fans have been equally smitten with their romance and ambassadorship in the LGBT community. In terms of ink, the incredible love story between the two takes up plenty of space on both of their bodies in the form of separate puzzle pieces they each wear on their wrists. The key on Nunes' left forearm matches the heart-shaped lock on the right arm of Ansaroff.

The newest tattoo on Nunes' left bicep celebrates the two biggest victories in her career -- UFC 200 and UFC 232 -- and Ansaroff (10-6) has identical ink in the same place. Given the space each has left around those tattoos, it's a fair guess both are saving room for Ansaroff's greatest triumph, a 115-pound title shot that up to this point has remained elusive despite her getting tantalizingly close (including a decision loss in June to top contender Tatiana Suarez that saw Ansaroff, 33, on the verge of a stoppage in the closing seconds). 

When Nunes imagines the dream of a marriage between champions and a household with three title belts on the mantle, she lights up with pride. 

"That is going to be crazy and I have no doubt in my mind that Nina is going to be the next [strawweight] champion," Nunes said. "You are going to see!"

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Nunes supports Ansaroff during her most recent fight at UFC 238 in Chicago. Getty Images

Instead, Nunes is left to savor the two memories chiseled in ink on her arm. At UFC 200 in 2016, she broke the nose of Miesha Tate before submitting her to win the bantamweight title. Then, at UFC 232 last December, she moved up to featherweight to knock out women's pioneer and pound-for-pound queen Cris "Cyborg" Justino.

Not only did both title victories come in dominant fashion in the first round, they added to a list of legendary names that she has beaten. In fact, it was her demolition of Justino that first saw critics begin to consider her for the title of greatest of all-time. Yes, the G.O.A.T.

"It's awesome and it's a dream come true," Nunes said. "To be the best and to have others call me that, I like it."

It's a title from which Nunes does not shy away. One glance at her resume makes it hard to disagree with the moniker. In addition to Tate and Cyborg, Nunes holds wins over current or former UFC champions Germaine de Randamie, Valentina Shevchenko (twice) and Ronda Rousey. She also defeated respected contenders like Shayna Bazler, Sara McMann and Raquel Pennington. 

"Yes, for sure, I'm the greatest of all-time, and I have two belts," Nunes argued. "It has never happened before in women's MMA. This is the first time, and I'm the best. Everybody has their own opinion, but I'm the one right now. This is my era."

The fact is that within the two divisions in which Nunes is now the queen, the only former champion she has yet to defeat is the woman she will face off against on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 239 in Las Vegas. 

Regardless of whether you believe Nunes is already the G.O.A.T. -- or at worst is on her way to securing that honor -- a victory over Holly Holm (12-4) would seemingly leave nothing left to accomplish. 

"This is a big opportunity for my life to keep making history," Nunes said. "I feel like this fight is supposed to happen. She's the only one that I didn't beat yet. Holly is a former [bantamweight] champion, and I think that's why this fight is going to be very interesting."

So about that idea of having nothing left to compete for should she get past Holm. How much longer does the G.O.A.T. want to compete? The answer is far from an easy one, and in some ways, depends on the day that you ask Nunes, still in her fighting prime at age 31. 

"I feel like I have a couple more things to do in my MMA career, but we never know, although we always think we know," Nunes said. "I love what I do. When I stay away for a couple months, I miss it a lot. Sometimes I think I did everything in this sport and I might retire soon, but when I start training again and get that vibe back and the excitement of everything, I start to think I can do this for a while more. But we never know."

One thing Nunes feels somewhat certain about is that she only has two challenges of interest that remain. One is Holm on Saturday at UFC 239 in Las Vegas. The other is a potential rematch with Justino, in some ways to remove any idea that her 51-second knockout of the legend might have been a fluke. It's a fight that could prove difficult to make, especially with Justino expected to test the free agent market following the expiration of her contract on July 27 following her UFC 240 bout against Felicia Spencer. 

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Nunes destroyed Cyborg in thrilling fashion last December. Getty Images

Asked if she still has any unfinished business with Shevchenko, the current flyweight champion who twice gave her all she could handle at 135 pounds, Nunes was absolute in her response. "I don't think so," she said. Nunes provided the same reaction when reminded that some believe Shevchenko had done enough to beat her in their 2017 title rematch, which Nunes won by split decision.

"Who she is? Honestly, she has to prove herself more," Nunes said. "I feel like I beat her twice. She can say whatever she wants, but if she wants to challenge a champion, she has to beat a champion and prove she is better than the champion to bring that belt home. She didn't beat me. For five rounds I tried to follow her, and she ran from me. She doesn't want to be the champion; the champion doesn't run from her. If you want the belt, you have to go drive it through and try to get it like I did against Miesha Tate."

Nunes admits there was a time in which she envisioned cutting down to 125 pounds and challenging Shevchenko in an attempt to become the UFC's first three-division champion but ultimately aborted plans after realizing the weight cut was too extreme. 

Either way, the differences in her performance between the first Shevchenko fight, in which she lived up to her reputation as a fighter who gasses late, and their five-round rematch 18 months later speaks to Nunes' steady evolution since her 2013 UFC debut. 

"I feel like I have grown with the sport," Nunes said. "You can sit down and you have to try and find the answers because MMA keeps growing. If you stop, a lot of people are going to drive through you and you are going to be a step [behind]. I always try to find new things. I keep evolving and evolving in this sport, and I feel like this is making me strong."

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Nunes doesn't believe a trilogy fight with Shevchenko is in her future. USATSI

In the six years she has competed within UFC, Nunes is an incredible 11-1 with the two Shevchenko fights proving to be the lone times that anyone was able to take her the full distance. It's her lone defeat, however, that Nunes credits with being the most important fight of her career. 

At UFC 178 in 2014, in just her third fight with the promotion, Nunes dominated former title challenger Cat Zingano before running out of gas and being stopped late in Round 3. 

"I always say that [the loss] was supposed to happen," Nunes said. "I had the fight in my hand and was ready, but it wasn't my time and wasn't supposed to be my moment. I know I was better than her that night. I was ready in everywhere but for some reason that night was supposed to be hers. 

"She might have needed it more than I did that night, and I gave it to her. It helped me to make a lot of changes and adjustments. I feel like I was supposed to move to American Top Team and that was the first thing that I did. My other gym helped a lot, too, but one day I decided to walk into this gym and I felt something different. This place made me comfortable, and when I walked into the gym, I could feel that and feel that I'm going to be a champion."

The loss to Zingano is one of two moments in Nunes' development to where she is today as a fighter and person that was destined to happen, as almost a pre-written slice of fate. The other was her first meeting with Ansaroff, which came at a time in which Nunes had just moved to Miami, barely spoke any English and had almost nothing to her name short of insatiable hunger as she was literally living in the gym at the time. 

"From out of nowhere, Nina showed up. I always said that it was supposed to happen, it was supposed to happen," Nunes said. "Since that day, we haven't left each other and it was so cool. She helped me a lot through my career and is a great fighter as well. She has a great vision and knows what is going on in my eyes. I know everything about her, too. We have a perfect relationship, like a coach, and you have to have that."

It wasn't long after they first met that Ansaroff asked Nunes to move in with her. All one has to do is look at the trajectory of Nunes' career from the moment they met six years ago to now and you can easily see the impact Ansaroff has made. The same might be said for Ansaroff's recent four-fight win streak, which coincided with Nunes' ascension to being a pay-per-view headliner. 

In case you're wondering whether Nunes and Ansaroff still get into the cage for an occasional sparring session, it's something they somewhat wisely chose to give up years ago after one particularly competitive and brutal back and forth. 

"Things got heated between us because she connected and then I connected and we did not like that," Nunes said. "The coach said, 'Hey Nina, I don't think you guys should spar anymore. I think you guys should help each other and maybe put somebody else in there and you can coach each other.' I injured Nina a lot and she gave me a couple injuries as well." 

Soon enough, the two became the encouraging voice in each other's corner during fights. That doesn't mean that Nunes enjoys it, however. In fact, it's her least favorite role because of the nerves it creates. 

"The whole weekend is like horrible for me. Usually I bite my nails and I come home and don't have any nails!" Nunes said. "I always tell her, 'Can you put somebody else in there? It's killing me.' But she likes this because it brings security in there. I am always nervous with the cameras in the corner that I am going to say something wrong."

Nunes is so in tune with both Ansaroff and their shared love for martial arts that it isn't abnormal for Nunes to wake up having dreamed about new moves they could both try in training. It's just as likely that Nunes will wake up Ansaroff to excitedly say, "Let me try this on you!" 

But the biggest role Ansaroff has seemingly played to Nunes' development as a fighter has been cerebral. Nunes will never forget the time they both sat down to watch one of Justino's first bouts in UFC when Ansaroff turned to her partner with a serious glance.  

"Nina was like, 'Man, I think one day you can beat her. Seriously, I train with you every day since the day we met and we have never spent one day away from each other. I know you can beat 'Cyborg,'" Nunes said. 

Although Nunes believed she had more to do in terms of training her mind and body for such a difficult fight, Ansaroff's words stayed in her consciousness. In many ways, it was the fuel that led to Nunes' well-told story of texting UFC president Dana White to say, "Give me that fight. I'm going to be the first double champ in history." 

With a victory over Holm, who is just 2-4 since her 2015 upset of Rousey, it would be difficult to find a challenge for Nunes that would make fighting on be anything more than an expression of her love for the sport.

Regardless of whether she adds more ink to signify what a potential Holm win might mean to her career, Nunes has clearly tattooed the record books following such a historic run.

This is the Amanda Nunes era, an unlikely champion who defeated one starlet after another throughout a journey paved by humility and love.