By: Nina Samone
UFC 277 is set to take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on July 30th with Julianna Peña defending her title against Amanda Nunes after her massive upset in UFC fight 269.
Peña shocked the MMA world by taking down Amanda Nunes, who had been the defending champion and was widely proclaimed as one of the best women’s fighters in history.
In their meeting in 2021, Peña went blow-for-blow with Nunes – arguably one of the hardest hitters of her time – and patiently waited for her opportunity.
After taking numerous hits, tiring Nunes, Peña took Nunes by the waist, throwing her to the ground and forcing her to submit with a rear naked choke.
This time around, Peña is confident and expects a similar fight – hopefully ending in the same result for her.
“I took some shots,” said Peña to Yahoo Sports. “And I’m going to go in there and it’s the one who backs up and who can’t take the shots that’s going to be the loser.”
Despite the victory of Peña, Nunes is still coming into the match as the favorite – it’s up to Peña to prove that her upset and title wasn’t just a fluke.
Nunes on the other hand is looking to avenge this fight – her first lost since 2014.
Sources:
Iole, Kevin. July 26th, 2022. Yahoo! Sports. “UFC 277: In rematch of her massive upset, Julianna Peña still holds this clear advantage over Amanda Nunes.” <https://sports.yahoo.com/ufc-277-in-rematch-of-her-massive-upset-julianna-pena-still-holds-this-clear-advantage-over-amanda-nunes-191430084.html>
Yanofsky, Daniel. July 26th, 2022. The Sporting News. “Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes 2 purse, salaries: How much money will they make at UFC 277?” <https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mma/news/julianna-pena-vs-amanda-nunes-2-purse-salaries-how-much-money-ufc-277/fencwqu6yyfqekozrre7jwac>
