UFC 277: Julianna Pena vs Amanda Nunes- Fight Preview, Betting Odds and Final Prediction
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UFC 277: Julianna Pena vs Amanda Nunes
UFC 277 goes down this weekend at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas and the headliner is a women’s rematch between Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes. Pena is the current UFC women’s bantamweight champion who’s heading for her first title defence against whom she took the belt from back in December 2021, the former 2-division champion and the current women’s featherweight champion, Amanda Nunes. Pena’s win over Nunes in the first fight was one of the greatest upsets pulled off in MMA history.
The buildup for the rematch is rooted in the fact that Nunes deserved the rematch considering the amount of time she had reigned the 135 lbs division and also, Pena has to prove the ongoing doubters wrong, yet again. Before the fight week, both Pena and Nunes participated as opposite team coaches in the UFC exclusive reality show, The Ultimate Fighter: Season 30. The co-main event of UFC 277 comprises an interim flyweight title fight between former champion Brandon Moreno and potential title contender Kai Kara France.
Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena: Fight Preview
Amanda Nunes has just shown with her resume that she is just nearly perfect at every department of the game, be it striking or grappling. Talking about the grappling first because that is the tougher argument to make, you have to go back to the moments that are mostly counted out in the fans’ memory. Throwback to 2016 when Nunes won the women’s bantamweight championship at the main event of UFC 200, she submitted a strong grappler in Miesha Tate. Even in the first fight with Pena who is primarily a grappler too, Nunes dominated the current champ for the first round and that too on the ground.
Nunes’ striking is just as balanced as possible with achieving an equally elite state in both power and precision. Her knockout wins over the knockout artists Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm speak for themself. Nunes also has back-to-back victories over the current flyweight champion and a Muay Thai whiz in Valentina Shevchenko adds a huge feather in her cap in the stand-up game.
How much Pena has improved on the other hand is still something to put faith in completely as before going into the first Nunes fight, she was 1-1 in the previous two fights and now with the rematch giving Nunes the hunger back to climb back the top of the GOAT status, it’s not sure if Pena can edge Nunes on the mentality side again. But Pena’s grit couldn’t alone have made her the champion and therefore her attitude to stand and bang while believing in her striking and to use her quite evident strengths of grappling to the fullest can again pull off the upset.
Julianna Pena vs Amanda Nunes: Betting Odds and Final Prediction
According to the official UFC website, Nunes is a -275 favourite and Pena is a +230 underdog.
Final Prediction: Amanda Nunes to def. Julianna Pena via TKO
Nunes went to a place of mental strength against Pena where she has never been before, with her championship mentality over long years coming from reigning as a 2-division champ formerly, “The Lionness” Nunes might turn the tables in her favour this time. This fight is however difficult to favour one person over the other skill for skill as we cannot count out that Pena had to improve exponentially well in order to defeat Nunes the first time, so it’s just who is more likely to bounce back from adversity during the fight more quickly, it’s almost a complete mental challenge now.
Also Read: “It’s total bulls**t”- Dana White trashed claims of a Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather rematch
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)