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Brendan Schaub doesn't believe Julianna Pena has a legitimate claim to a trilogy fight against Amanda Nunes after their UFC 277 rematch. Nunes reclaimed her bantamweight throne last Saturday, earning a decision victory over 'The Venezuelan Vixen' which was lopsided to say the least.
While one of the scorecards for the bout read 50-43 in favor of 'The Lioness', Schaub was ready to score it 50-42. According to the former UFC fighter, the dominant nature of Nunes' win diminishes Pena's chances of securing an immediate trilogy bout.
The 39-year-old recently said on The Schaub Show:
"Not much of a fight, they had it 50-45, 50-44, 50-43. I was more on the board of 50-43, even 50-42 to be honest... I thought this could be case of Amanda Nunes not wanting to be in there, trying to get out in the first round, Julianna Pena weathering the first round and then slowly breaking her down, taking her down, eventually submitting her in the third or fourth round. My god, was I off. This wasn't competitive... Problem is, if you're a Julianna Pena fan, I don't know what ground you have to stand on to ask for a rematch."
Watch the latest episode of The Schaub Show below:
Michael Bisping points out an adjusment in Amanda Nunes' gameplan that could have derailed Julianna Pena
Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes met for the first time at UFC 269 in December 2021. 'The Venezuelan Vixen' scored one of the greatest upset wins in UFC history, handing Nunes her first defeat since 2014.
Despite beating 'The Lioness' via second-round submission, Pena was an underdog going into the rematch at UFC 277. Nunes justified the odds by scoring multiple knockdowns over Pena and dominating the grappling exchanges as well.
UFC analyst Michael Bisping recently noted that Nunes' southpaw stance was likely the key to her win over Pena. 'The Count' believes Pena's wrestling-heavy gameplan was derailed by Nunes' southpaw stance as the approach to an orthodox stance is different. Bisping said on his YouTube channel:
"When the fight started, Nunes was standing southpaw and that would have caught Julianna Pena off guard. Pena, she's more of a wrestler I think that was her start into mixed martial arts. When you're fighting an orthodox fighter, there's a set of rules, a set of techniques, and certain shots that you can use."
The former UFC champion added:
"When the opponent stands southpaw, everything kind of changes and it can throw you off if you're not used to fighting southpaws. Of course, Nunes is very, very experienced, she's been doing this a long time as a two-way division champion and Pena I wasn't sure if she was able to handle the southpaw stance of Nunes."
Watch Bisping's breakdown of the UFC 277 headliner below:
