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A rematch of one of the biggest upsets in UFC history will take place Saturday, July 30, inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Julianna Pena will defend the UFC bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes.
Pena made her pro debut in 2009. She joined the UFC in 2013, winning "The Ultimate Fighter 18" as a member of Miesha Tate’s team. Early knee injuries resulted in a setback in 2014, but Pena returned in full force in 2015. In 2017, she lost to Valentina Shevchenko via submission. She went 2-1 after that, beating Sara McMann via submission at UFC 257 in 2021.
Nunes made her pro debut in 2008, first competing for Strikeforce and Invicta. She joined the UFC in 2013. After losing to Cat Zingano in 2014, Nunes went on a 12-fight win streak that saw her beat the likes of McMann, Shevchenko, Tate, Ronda Rousey, Raquel Pennington, Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm. Nunes beat Tate for the UFC bantamweight title in 2016. She successfully defended the belt six times. In 2018, Nunes beat Cyborg for the UFC featherweight title.
At UFC 269, Pena submitted Nunes in the second round to win the belt.
UFC 277 takes place Saturday, July 30. The Fight Pass prelims will start at 6 p.m. ET, with the prelims kicking off at 8 p.m. ET. The main card PPV will start at 10 p.m. ET. Pena and Nunes should make their way to the Octagon around 12:15 a.m. ET, depending on how long the undercard fights last.
The main card for UFC 277 is available in the U.S. and Mexico on the ESPN+ subscription streaming service for a pay-per-view cost.
Earlier fights are viewable live on ESPN+, the WatchESPN app and, for the early prelims, on UFC Fight Pass.
In Canada, the main card pay-per-view is available on TSN, Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Eastlink and UFC PPV on UFC Fight Pass.
In the United Kingdom, the main card will be available on BT Sport 1, with the prelims available on UFC Fight Pass.
In the U.S., the UFC 277 main card is available via pay-per-view on ESPN+, which also requires a subscription. The PPV price for UFC 277 is $74.99 for current subscribers. New subscribers can pay a bundle price of $99.98 for the UFC 277 pay-per-view and an ESPN+ annual subscription, which offers savings of more than 30 percent.
Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes
Anton Tabuena: Has Nunes fallen in love with her power that she’ll again just go on an all out brawl, with no respect for her opponent? Because that was clearly not a good idea against a faster, and more tenacious foe. On paper, it looks like minor adjustments and sticking to a smarter game plan is very achievable, but bad habits and possible complacency can always hinder that. Nunes is also 34 and has been doing this for 14 years, so I guess it all boils down to which Nunes shows up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat, but Nunes should have more than enough tools available to beat Pena, so to me she’s still the logical pick. Amanda Nunes by TKO.
Mookie Alexander: My concerns about Nunes are more mental than they are physical, but there are still worries physically. She had COVID-19 and she hadn’t cut weight to 135 in two years when she lost to Pena. Mentally, she’s left ATT, has accomplished pretty much everything she’s set out to accomplish in the sport, and may already have one foot in the retirement door. and I think there’s more than enough precedent to suggest that she just completely falls apart when someone sustains a pace on her and can exhaust her. Pena might not be a technical marvel on the feet but her strategy of just throwing a bunch of shit worked! And it also helps that she’s very durable. But with that said... I mean Nunes at her best still wins this, right? She’s the more well-rounded fighter, better striker (although she didn’t look it the last time), and an underrated top game grappler. She won the first round pretty clearly and then Pena just went berserk and hurt and exhausted Nunes into submission. Pena isn’t that far removed from rallying to beat Sara McMann and getting submitted by Germaine de Randamie (!!!). Nunes doesn’t have to make too many tactical adjustments to win — for god’s sake, don’t sloppily brawl again — but is she going to succumb to Pena’s pace and determination again? I think it’s possible but I’m still going with Amanda Nunes by submission, round 1. I wouldn’t be shocked if Nunes’ correction was to go aggressively for an opening round finish.
Zane Simon: My immediate thought in the aftermath of UFC 269 is that I wouldn’t pick Julianna Pena to win that fight nine times out of ten. So, I’m not going to. She got dropped, she got taken down, she got beat up and eventually she battled her way through a bunch of 50-50 exchanges with a bigger puncher to overwhelm Nunes based purely on heart and grit. Could she do it all again? Yes, definitely. Nunes has been beatable this way before in the past. And while she’s faced a few opponents in her title run who have the style to force that same kind of issue, few have had the raw strength and speed that Pena does. But, I also have to give some stock to the idea that Nunes really did have a miserable camp last time, trying to run things on her own for the first time maybe ever. If she’s had a better run up I have to believe she’d also be in a better place to battle through what adversity she may face. More than that though, she could simply take Pena down and submit her in the first round. Amanda Nunes via submission, round 1.
Staff picking Pena: Victor, Connor, Lewis
Staff picking Nunes: Mookie, Anton, Zane, Dayne, Stephie
Brandon Moreno vs. Kai Kara-France
Anton Tabuena: Kai Kara-France has made a lot of improvements and strides since their first meeting in 2019, and I think it’ll be a lot tougher to beat him if this remains mostly on the feet again. Moreno is insanely durable and should be the more well rounded fighter, but I’m not sure if he’ll be able — or even want — to keep this on the mat for long stretches, and that could be what decides this. Will Moreno’s relentless pace and output prevail on the feet, or will Kara-France be able to pick and land his shots better now en-route to another (interim) gold for that City Kickboxing team? I think it’s the latter and we could be in for an upset. Kai Kara-France by Decision.