UFC 277 Julianna Peña vs. Amanda Nunes

DALLAS — Julianna Peña shocked the MMA world when she upset Amanda Nunes to win the UFC ladies’s bantamweight title at UFC 269 final December. Nunes is the best ladies’s MMA fighter on the earth and had seemed practically unbeatable earlier than Peña dethroned her.

Peña and Nunes will meet once more Saturday night time in the primary occasion of UFC 277 at American Airways Middle with the UFC ladies’s bantamweight title on the road. ESPN has Nunes ranked No. 2 and Peña ranked No. 4 on its pound-for-pound ladies’s MMA checklist. Nunes has stated she went into the primary bout with accidents to each her knees and with COVID-19. After getting wholesome and transferring into her new, non-public fitness center, Lioness Studio, Nunes stated she shall be a unique fighter this time round.

Peña (11-4) has received two straight and 7 of her final 9 fights total. The fighter from Washington, who trains out of Chicago, beat Nunes by way of second-round submission seven months in the past as a heavy underdog. Peña, 32, was the primary feminine Final Fighter event winner in 2013 and had been calling for a title shot for years prior to truly getting one.

Nunes (21-5) was on a 12-fight successful streak earlier than dropping to Peña, with wins throughout that stretch over the likes of Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm. The Brazilian slugger, who trains out of South Florida, stays the UFC ladies’s featherweight champion. Nunes, 34, is the primary UFC fighter to defend two titles in separate weight courses concurrently — and has seven title defenses throughout two divisions, essentially the most for a lady in UFC historical past.

Within the co-main occasion, Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France will compete for the UFC flyweight title with undisputed champ Deiveson Figueiredo out with an harm. ESPN has Moreno ranked No. 2 and Kara-France at No. 3 on the earth at flyweight. Moreno (19-6-2), a 28-year-old Mexican fighter, had a seven-fight unbeaten streak snapped by Figueiredo in a title battle at UFC 270 in January. This was his first coaching camp out of Entram Gymnasium in Tijuana. Moreno now trains beneath James Krause at Glory MMA in Missouri.

Kara-France (24-9, 1 NC), a 29-year-old from New Zealand, has received three in a row and is making an attempt to change into the third member of his group to win a UFC title, following middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.

Additionally on the cardboard, fan favourite Derrick Lewis meets Sergei Pavlovich in a heavyweight bout, flyweight contenders Alexandre Pantoja and Alex Perez face off and rising gentle heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev meets wily veteran Anthony Smith.

Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap all of the motion from Dallas. Comply with alongside or watch the fights on ESPN+ PPV.

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Battle in progress: Ladies’s flyweight: Joselyne Edwards (11-4, 2-2 UFC, -115) vs. Ji Yeon Kim (9-5-2, 3-5 UFC, -105)

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UFC 277 outcomes

Mild heavyweight: Nicolae Negumereanu (13-1, 4-1 UFC) def. Ihor Potieria (19-3, 0-1 UFC) by TKO

Negumereanu, of Romania, produced an indignant, violent end at 3:33 of the second spherical with a sustained flurry alongside the fence. The end started with a number of onerous knees within the clinch, which backed Potieria up in opposition to the cage. Potieria refused to go down and would sometimes throw out a punch, however Negumereanu stayed good and located his openings. He harm him additional with a left uppercut, proper palms and extra knees.

Finally, referee Kerry Hatley could not let it proceed, though Potieria by no means went down from the pictures. The end greater than made up for a sluggish first spherical, through which the gang grew stressed as Negumereanu held Potieria on the bottom however did little or no when it comes to offense.

It’s Negumereanu’s fourth consecutive win within the UFC and second end.

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Welterweight: Orion Cosce (8-1, 1-1 UFC) def. Mike Mathetha (3-2, 0-2 UFC) by unanimous choice

The night started with a matchup of two fighters who have been stylistic reverse however mired in the very same circumstance. Each got here in with only one profession loss — suffered of their UFC debuts. This was the second Octagon look for every, and Cosce obtained the win by making it predominantly a grappling contest. The 28-year-old seized management of a fair battle early within the remaining spherical, utilizing a lateral drop to place Mathetha on his again. Cosce instantly gained a dominant place and threatened with submissions the remainder of the way in which to safe the choice. All three judges scored the bout 29-28.

Mathetha, a 34-year-old who competes beneath the nickname “Blood Diamond,” was submitted in his UFC debut however defended nicely this time in clinching and grappling exchanges. However, Mathetha solely sometimes created the house to unleash his inventive kicks and punches. He harm Cosce with a spinning assault in Spherical 2 however quickly fell right into a clinch, dropping his benefit.

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Nonetheless to come back:

• Ladies’s bantamweight championship: Julianna Peña (12-4, 8-2 UFC, +220) (c) vs. Amanda Nunes (21-5, 15-2 UFC, -270)

• Males’s flyweight interim championship: Brandon Moreno (19-6-2, 7-3-2 UFC, -210) vs. Kai Kara-France (24-9 1 NC, 7-2 UFC, +175)

• Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis (26-9, 17-7 UFC, +120) vs. Sergei Pavlovich (15-1, 3-1 UFC, -140)

• Males’s flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (24-5, 8-3 UFC, -200) vs. Alex Perez (24-6, 6-2 UFC, +170)

• Mild heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev (17-1, 8-1 UFC, -550) vs. Anthony Smith (36-16, 11-6 UFC, +400)

• Welterweight: Alex Morono (21-7 1 NC, 10-4 1 NC UFC, +130) vs. Matthew Semelsberger (10-3, 4-1 UFC, -155)

• Light-weight: Drew Dober (24-11 1 NC, 10-7 1 NC UFC, -170) vs. Rafael Alves (20-10, 1-1 UFC, +145)

• Heavyweight: Don’Tale Mayes (9-4, 2-2 UFC, -180) vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab (5-0, 0-0 UFC, +155)

• Light-weight: Drakkar Klose (12-2-1, 6-2 UFC, -220) vs. Rafa Garcia (14-2, 2-2 UFC, +180)

• Welterweight: Michael Morales (13-0, 1-0 UFC, -650) vs. Adam Fugitt (8-2, 0-0 UFC, +475)

(c) = defending champion