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Julianna Peña shook the world with a huge historical upset in the history of MMA. The Venezuelan submitted the Brazilian Lioness Amanda Nunes and became UFC women’s bantamweight champion at UFC 269. The whole MMA world went into meltdown and could not believe Amanda Nunes getting beat in an empathic fashion.
Nunes was in complete control and Peña looked out of her depth in the 1st round. It was a chaotic 2nd round. Peña looked more dominant and landed jab after jab which made Nunes exhausted. She took down the Lioness before choking her to secure the famous upset. It was Nunes’s first loss since getting finished by Cat Zingano at UFC 178 back in September 2014. Nunes had been bantamweight champion since defeating Miesha Tate at UFC 200.
Even Peña’s own team looked in a state of surprise. Her coaches were watching with their hands on their heads as it appeared their fighter was about to win before jumping straight onto the Octagon and celebrating with their new champion.
UFC chose both the women to headline the Ultimate Fighter Series. The Ultimate Fighter's 30th season featured a coaching matchup of UFC women's bantamweight champion Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes. It really helped UFC to build up a story around a rematch between them at UFC 277. The unrest was still there in Amanda’s mind as she couldn’t accept a title loss. She kept on grinding and changed her stance to Southpaw during her training camp. She also left her old gym where she used to train at the American Top Team. There was no doubt that Amanda Nunes was working on her strength and conditioning for the rematch as it was the very reason, she gassed out in the first bout.
The rematch was a completely different fight. Amanda Nunes came out on top with her new skillset. Amanda bullied Peña for five rounds. It was a bloodbath. Peña was entirely covered with a blood coat due to a cut on her forehead she got because of Amanda’s elbows and punches. That match is a good example of Amanda’s capability and Julianna’s resilience. Peña didn’t give up till the last round, hoping that she could still pull out a miracle. But the judges gave a unanimous decision in favor of the Brazilian and returned the lost crown to its rightful owner.
Julianna Peña may have lost her title at UFC 277, but she clearly didn’t lose the desire to see Amanda Nunes standing across the cage from her. Peña was ablaze at a post-fight show at UFC Vegas 59 where she called for a trilogy against Amanda Nunes as she claimed there is still a score to settle.
“I’m ready to go round 8 right now,” Peña said during the UFC Vegas 59 post-fight show. “Like let’s freaking go. I’m here. Where you at, Amanda?
“Amanda, seriously, where are you at? You left your girl hanging out there. I showed up for Team Peña. She didn’t show up for Team Nunes. I’m here, I’m ready to go round 8.”
As a reference to the Round eight comment, Peña finished Nunes in the second round during their first meeting this past December as she claimed the UFC bantamweight title. Nunes then got her revenge with the unanimous decision in the rematch. Pena also took Amanda’s change in stance as a compliment.
“When somebody has entirely revamped and completely switched their entire stance and their entire fighting style because of me? I take that as a compliment,” Peña said about Nunes after their rematch. “I think if you give me time to get ready for both stances of Amanda, she doesn’t touch me next time.”
Julianna appeared at the event on Saturday night in support of her team after coaching against Nunes on The Ultimate Fighter 30. Both season titles went in favor of the Team Peña fighter Muhammad Usman and Juliana Miller. Peña looked determined when she claimed that Amanda won’t stand against her if her wish for the trilogy is granted.
Everybody thought that Peña will be on a long vacation after such a brutal fight so that she could recover from her injuries. But it didn’t look like that when she appeared at UFC Apex. She seemed to be ready to start another training camp as soon as possible. Peña is pushing for the trilogy by the end of the year.
Amanda Nunes is off to Brazil as she anxiously waits to get back to her friends and family. She could not go back in the past couple of years as the global pandemic prevented her visit. It looks unlikely that Amanda has plans to take the third fight against the Venezuelan. At this moment Valentina Shevchenko deserves the trilogy more than Julianna Peña. Both fights of Amanda and Valentina went to the judge’s scorecard. The second fight was a bit close one as one of the judges’ decisions went in favor of Shevchenko. So, let’s see what UFC has to offer the fighters.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Do you think that Julianna Peña deserves a trilogy fight or it’s time for Valentina Shevchenko to step up and face Amanda Nunes in a trilogy fight?
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