UFC President Dana White guarantees that Nunes vs Pena 2 will be the biggest women’s MMA fight of all time.
The fallout from the UFC 269 title fight between Amanda Nunes (21-5) and Julianna Pena (11-4) is still being felt throughout the MMA industry. Pena’s submission victory will go down as one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history, and may eventually be viewed as a paradigm shift moment in women’s MMA.
In that way, it is very similar to the 2015 championship fight between Ronda Rousey (12-2) and Holly Holm (33-2-3). At that time, “Rowdy” was one of the most popular talents in sport and the rare cage fighter that had legitimate mainstream appeal. Holm was a fast-rising talent in the division with notable credentials as a former champion in boxing. However, because of Rousey’s star power she was still a notable underdog heading into their UFC 193 matchup.
Dana White believes Nunes vs Pena 2 will break records
On Nov. 14, 2015, “The Preacher’s Daughter” forever changed the direction of the division when she scored a head kick knockout in front of over 56,000 Australians at Etihad Stadium and handed Rousey the first L of her career. The bout still resonates today for its impact on the division, but also for its box office success, as the only women’s MMA bout to headline a card with over a million buys on pay-per-view.
That bout has remained an unchallenged standard-bearer for female fights in the UFC. However, White believes some of the records set on that night could fall when a championship rematch is eventually made between Pena and Nunes.
“The Pena rematch with Nunes will probably be the biggest women’s fight of all time,” White told ESPN MMA on Monday. “Every way that it could possibly beat [Rousey vs Holm] it will. I don’t think it, I know it. It will crush that fight.”
Amanda Nunes is as confused as anyone about her UFC 269 performance
Nunes had not tasted defeat in over six years before being choked out by “The Venezuelan Vixen” in Las Vegas two weeks ago. The loss itself was no doubt shocking, but many were surprised by how Nunes performed inside the T-Mobile Arena. For a woman in the midst of a 12-fight win streak, with victories over former champions like Rousey, Holm, Miesha Tate, and Cris “Cyborg” Justino, UFC 269 showcased a far less efficient and tactical version of “The Lioness.”
White says that fans aren’t the only ones confused by how Nunes looked on fight night and that the reigning featherweight champion couldn’t explain why she fought as she did either.
“I talked to her that night, and she said she can’t explain it. That her body locked up on her, and that she couldn’t do anything that night,” said White. “Her body locked up and she really doesn’t understand what happened. But she wants to find out. She’s going to dive in and talk to some doctors and figure out what happened to her. … She came out and started going after Julianna, and the thing about Julianna is she had in her mind she was going to win this fight. And she put pressure on Amanda and kept coming forward, and kept coming right at her and did what it took to win the fight.”
Do you think Nunes vs Pena 2 has the potential to do better numbers than Rousey vs Holm?
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