5 biggest upsets involving female fighters in UFC history

#2. Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg – UFC 232

Amanda Nunes destroyed Cris Cyborg at UFC 232 despite few fans giving her a chance

When the UFC announced a champion vs. champion fight at UFC 232, pitting bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes against featherweight titleholder Cris Cyborg, it seemed like a doomed task for ‘The Lioness’. After all, not only was she giving up a substantial amount of size to her fellow Brazilian, but nobody had beaten Cyborg in well over a decade.

More importantly, Cyborg was arguably the most feared striker in the UFC, as she’d destroyed every fighter she’d ever fought with her brutal power and had easily dispatched Lesley Smith, Lina Lansberg, Tonya Evinger, Holly Holm and Yana Kunitskaya in the octagon.

However, Nunes held a pretty major trump card in the form of her own concussive striking power, which she’d already demonstrated against the likes of Ronda Rousey and Raquel Pennington, and her superior speed.

So when the two women began to exchange at the start of their clash, it quickly became clear that not only was Nunes a superior technical striker, throwing straight punches in comparison to Cyborg’s winging ones, but that she was quick enough to land them, too.

Just seconds into the fight, ‘The Lioness’ was able to rock her larger foe with punches. With Cyborg stunned, Nunes didn’t let up, unleashing a flurry that knocked her silly in just under a minute.

Three years later, Nunes remains responsible for the only defeat suffered by Cyborg since 2005. Given that nobody saw it coming, the result remains one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

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#1. Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 269

Julianna Pena's win over Amanda Nunes must be considered one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, period

If Amanda Nunes’ upset of Cris Cyborg was big, Julianna Pena’s defeat of ‘The Lioness’ should be seen as even bigger.

In fact, when you consider Nunes’ status as the greatest female fighter in MMA history, it’s probably easy to consider Pena’s defeat of her the biggest upset in UFC history, period.

Literally nobody was giving ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ a chance in this fight. After all, what could she really offer that challengers like Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko had not? On paper at least, the answer seemed to be nothing.

However, Pena demonstrated incredible self-belief, and came in with a smart, if hugely risky, gameplan.

She grappled with Nunes in the first round, banking on her skills on the mat being enough to allow her to survive, and then chose to trade strikes with her in the second, clearly hoping that ‘The Lioness’ would’ve slowed down enough to make her punches too wild to be effective.

Incredibly, the plan worked, as Pena began to get through with cleaner shots on the feet, landing jabs and heavy power shots on Nunes before managing to secure a takedown. Moments later, the world was shocked when ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ slapped on a choke variant and forced the champion to submit.

Quite what will happen from here is anyone’s guess. Nunes could well regain the title in the inevitable rematch that’s expected to happen in 2022, but for now at least, Pena’s win over her should be considered the biggest upset to involve female fighters in UFC history.