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The three-match is officially off for the moment. Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña were set to face off at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on June 10 as the main event of UFC 289, but Peña suffered a rib injury during training that forced her to cancel the bout.
Instead, Nunes will face off against Irene Aldana, as UFC announced on May 2. Given Nunes’ and Peña’s position as two of the top female mixed martial artists in the world (and given the fierce rivalry they’ve fostered after facing off twice and preparing to do so again a third time, it’s almost certain that we will get to see a third fight between the two: it just won’t happen yet.
While the first two matches that Nunes and Peña fought in came with a world bantamweight title on the line. Aldana, then, has the chance to play spoiler and snatch the title away from Nunes, who won the previous bout against Peña in July of 2022.
While Aldana has been one of the better fighters in UFC throughout her career, possessing a 14-6 record, she’s never managed to claim a world championship. Odds haven’t dropped yet for the Nunes vs Aldana bout, although you can expect Nunes to be a heavy favorite in her quest to defend her title. If you’re looking to bet on UFC, then, the next major event to wager on is UFC Fight Night on May 13: the headliner for that is Jairzinho
Rozenstruik vs Jailton Almeida in a hard-hitting heavyweight matchup. Almeida is a heavy favorite to win, listed at -500 in the two-way bracket at BetMGM Sportsbook. Just be sure to use the bonus code by BetMGM if you want to bet on Rozenstruik/Almeida or any other MMA event to ensure you’re getting the best possible chances of winning big.
Now, back to the one we’ve all been waiting for. Both Peña and Nunes have won one of the previous matches, so while the bantamweight title may not hang in the balance by the time the next chance they have to face off rolls around, it will determine (for now) who gets to claim the bragging rights in the hotly contested series.
Here’s a look at the two fighters’ history, both their own and what’s happened between them so far, to give you an idea of how this match could go down, whenever it ends up taking place.
Previous History
Peña won the first match in a stunning second-round knockout, forcing Nunes to tap out with a rear-naked choke to secure the bantamweight title. The upset ended a 12-fight, six-year undefeated streak for Nunes, but she got back in the win column in the rematch with a victory by unanimous decision, blowing Peña out of the water in the five-round bout to reclaim her lost prize.
How They Stack Up
Both of the fighters have an identical 69-inch reach. Nunes is 5-foot-8, an inch taller than Peña, and as they’re competing in the bantamweight division they’ll both aim to be as close to 135 pounds as possible at the weigh in, although they can change in the couple of days afterward immediately leading into the fight.
Nunes will turn 35 at the end of this month, less than two weeks before UFC 289: Peña’s 34th birthday is in August. While neither of them fights as often as they did in their younger days (one of the privileges of being at the top of your sport for so long), the longer layoffs give them a chance to rest up and put on a brutal show whenever they step into the octagon.
Stylistic Preferences
While it’s ostensibly a defensive art, Nunes deploys karate forms to great success, using leg kicks to keep her opponents at bay or lash out from range. She also uses Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (as do almost all modern fighters), giving her an excellent combination of offense and defense as she uses her legs. Nunes is as quick as a snake, tallying 13 of her 22 career victories (compared to just five losses) via knockout: she knows how to go for the finishing blow once she smells blood in the water.
Peña, on the other hand, has scored nearly 50 percent of her career victories via submission, as she did when she beat Nunes in December 2021. She’s incredibly dangerous when she gets an opponent on the ground, and even Nunes’ ability as a judoka may not be able to save her in that scenario.
