Amanda Nunes reclaims bantamweight title, batters Julianna Pena at UFC 277
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, July 30, 2022, for UFC 277, going down live from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.
Headlining the event is a bantamweight championship rematch between current champion Julianna Pena (11-4) and former champion, no. 1 ranked Amanda Nunes (21-5).
Co-headlining the event is also a championship rematch, this one going down in the flyweight division between former champion, no. 1 ranked Brandon Moreno (19-6-2), who faces no. 2 ranked Kai Kara-France (24-9) for the interim title in the co-main event of the evening.
Reverting back to our main event..
Amanda Nunes is in many peoples eyes the women’s goat, though she was stopped in round two of her last fight against Julianna Pena, who looks to make the first defense of her newly claimed title here tonight at UFC 277.
Continue reading to see how this bantamweight championship main event rematch went down:
Official Result: Amanda Nunes def. Julianna Pena via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-43)
Nunes gets her leg kick going early in this contest, and also drops Pena in the first round with a check right hook. She’d landed it twice previous, and it’s a great start for the former champion, just like their first fight was, only she out-grappled Pena in the first round of that one.
Pena lets go of her hands as well, landing a lot of her own punches, finishing off the round a little stronger than she started.
Nunes has an even better second round, as she badly drops Pena twice, and also stuns her twice more toward the end of the round. Pena continues to get back to her feet and continue pressing the action, throwing her own strikes. You’ve got to love that heart, these are the shots that put Cyborg Santos unconscious up at 145 lbs.
Pena attempts a takedown in the third and ends up on her back, where Nunes opens up two nasty cuts on Pena’s head via her elbows.
Nunes secures a double leg takedown early in the fourth and reigns down some punishment from top position. She’s absolutely dominating this rematch.
But, Pena locks up an armbar from her guard midway through the round and comes incredibly close to finishing the fight with it, before Nunes pulls her arm out. Pena locks another up and comes close with that one as well, and continues trying for submissions off her back until the round ends.
Nunes again takes her down in the fifth, and Pena tries for more armbars, as well as a triangle, none of which worked. Nunes absolutely mauls Pena and advances position whilst beating on her from atop.
Amanda Nunes really showed up tonight, and did what many believed she’d do in their first fight, as she reclaims her bantamweight title tonight.
Julianna Pena on the other hand, what a durable woman she is. She may just be the toughest, grittiest female in MMA today. She never stopped trying to win, she got hurt badly multiple times, she almost pulled it off in the fourth after losing the first three rounds, she was bleeding badly from two different cuts…
What a fight!
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