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Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes went to war in the headliner of the recently concluded UFC 277 pay-per-view. The fight gave the crowd plenty to cheer for over five violent rounds of action.
While 'The Venezuelan Vixen' showed character and championship heart despite being bloodied and bruised throughout the fight, she lost the women's bantamweight title via a lopsided unanimous decision. Nunes' vicious counter-striking proved to be the difference between the ladies on the feet in the first three rounds.
The Brazilian scored three knockdowns and clearly got the better of the striking exchanges.
In the championship rounds, 'The Lioness' found it easy to take her opponent down and bruise her with nasty elbow strikes. Pena did try to transition into armbars and triangles from full guard but failed. Nunes' elbow strikes left nasty cuts on Pena's forehead that saw her become a bloody mess in the final stages of the bout.
During the post-fight press conference, Dana White claimed that Pena has a "big chunk missing from her forehead" and will require plastic surgery. ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported White's comments through a post on Twitter that read:
"White: Julianna has a big chunk missing from her forehead. She’s going to see a plastic surgeon right now. … She got pretty banged up tonight."
ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto shared a clip from the fight on Twitter where one can see Pena’s blood dripping between the cage links. Despite losing the fight, the former champion's resilience and reluctance to give up has won many hearts.
See the clip below:
Amanda Nunes claims Julianna Pena's win over her in their first fight was a fluke
Amanda Nunes is now a two-time two-division UFC champion and the only individual in the promotion to have achieved this feat. Heading into the rematch with Pena, there were doubts about whether the Brazilian still has the motivation and hunger to compete against the best.
With a highly dominant performance in the rematch, Nunes proved that the fire within still burns bright. During the post-fight press conference, the Brazilian also claimed that Julianna Pena's win over her in their first fight was a fluke, and she'll never be able to defeat her again. Marc Raimondi relayed the quote via a tweet:
"Nunes: Tonight, it was proven that was a lucky day for her. If she needed to become a champion like that, she had her time and now it’s over."
