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Julianna Pena officially etched her name in the UFC history books with a stunning second-round submission upset win over Amanda Nunes to win the women’s bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 269 from Las Vegas.
After getting the better of the champion with her jab in the second round she took down the champ and sank in a rear-naked choke that earned her the belt.
The Venezuelan Vixen has been calling for a fight against Amanda Nunes for quite some time. As it turns out, that confidence carried her in a big way come fight night.
This is among the most shocking upsets in UFC title fight history. For context, Holly Holm was +850 when she pulled off her upset win over Ronda Rousey. DraftKings Sportsbook had Pena’s odds against Nunes at +650.
Pena as champion opens the doors for lots of former challengers who had been shut out by Nunes but the first order of business is likely to be an immediate rematch. That’s the standard operating procedure for a champion of her caliber.
The new champ already addressed it before her UFC 269 win.
“Yes (there will be) an immediate rematch,” Pena told the media on Thursday. “And when I win that fight I will be 11-2 in the division, which is a better bantamweight record in the history of the bantamweight division. As far as walking up to 145 (for a second belt), I don’t know, I’m pretty comfortable in knowing that 135 is my proper weight class. But we can cross that bridge when we get there.”
With Pena now proving her fire for this fight was enough to score the win, that’s a fight that would carry a lot of intrigue for fans.
Now that Pena is the champ she can put an exclamation point on the rivalry with a second win.
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