Julianna Peña vs Amanda Nunes
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UFC 269
UFC 269
Before UFC 269, Amanda Nunes was indisputably the best female MMA fighter ever. She was the first woman to win and defend two different UFC championship belts simultaneously. Amanda had beaten Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg, and Holly Holm. She was on a 12 win streak with her last loss over seven years ago.
Julianna Peña did not have the same accomplishments as Nunes; she had been 2-2 in her last four fights, albeit 10-4 overall. However, it was an incredible accomplishment even for Julianna to make it this far because she tore her meniscus, ACL, LCL, and MCL all in one incident seven years ago. So it was no wonder that Julianna entered the fight as a +700 underdog.
The first round of the fight proceeded as everyone expected. The odds jumped even further, with Nunes becoming a -3000 favorite to win after round one. However, the second round was different as Julianna never backed down and submitted Amanda with a rear-naked choke in one of the greatest UFC upsets ever.
Quotes
It's up there with [Matt] Serra and [Georges St-Pierre].
Dana White
You shook up the world
Joe Rogan
Julianna is a person who always believed in herself and believed that she could win this fight if she got it. You heard it at the press conference, you heard it in the months leading up to this fight — and she did it. She did it tonight. That’s one of the things that makes this sport so incredible.
Dana White
References
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Why Pena-Nunes is the biggest upset in UFC history
On paper, Pena had no clear path to victory against Nunes. The prevailing wisdom was that Nunes was by far the better striker and that she might hold a slight advantage on the ground, too, despite the fact that Pena is known for her wrestling. No fighter is invincible, and anything can happen in MMA, but it sure didn't seem like Pena's particular skill set would be what finally slayed "The Lioness."
The Score
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UFC's Julianna Pena Opens Up About How Her Knee Got Destroyed
Julianna Pena, ranked No. 10 in the UFC Women's Bantamweight rankings, is out two years after tearing her ACL, MCL, LCL, meniscus and hamstring in one single incident.
Bleacher Report
