Amanda Nunes has beaten every woman who has held the UFC Bantamweight or Featherweight title.
Except Juliana Pena.
She will be looking to reclaim her belt when she faces Pena at UFC 277 this weekend in Dallas, Texas.
Kiwi Kai Kara-France is also searching for UFC gold as he takes on Brendon Moreno for the Interim Flyweight belt.
Our full UFC 277: Pena vs Nunes 2 Tips & Preview can be found below.
She didn’t train.
She underestimated her opponent.
She isn’t hungry anymore.
Everyone was quick to find excuses for the GWOAT Amanda Nunes after her first loss in six years, but failed to consider the possibility that Pena is just better.
We know how good a grappler she is, but when standing toe to toe with Nunes and trading blows, she proved she is very much competent on her feet .
Pena’s jab was doing considerable damage and instead of keeping her distance and being patient, Nunes bit down on her mouthpiece and ramped up her output.
She did the same thing against Cris Cyborg when winning the Featherweight title, so you can’t blame her for doing it again.
But she quickly gassed out and when Pena took her to the canvas, she didn’t need to even fully sink in the rear naked choke for the champ to tap.
I except a more patient and calculated Amanda Nunes this time around and I’m tipping this goes longer than many think.
Having lost two of three in 2019/20 Kai Kara-France put together three impressive wins in a row to earn a shot at the Interim Flyweight Title.
First round knockouts of Rogerio Bontorin and former Bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt was followed by a super impressive unanimous decision win over wrestler Askar Askarov in March.
Of course Brandon Moreno is the former Flyweight champion who completed a trilogy of fights with the current champion Deiveson Figueiredo ending with one win, one loss and a draw.
This isn’t the first time these two have met.
They faced of in the octagon back in December 2019, a fight which Moreno won by unanimous decision.
Both of these guys are well rounded mixed martial artists and KKF’s very good takedown defence which should nullify the grappling prowess of Moreno.
I have this fight taking place mostly on the feet and I’m of the opinion that the judges will be needed to decide the winner.
Derrick Lewis has failed in both his chances to become the UFC Heavyweight champion and is fast becoming the gatekeeper of the division.
He was last seen loses by second round KO to Aussie Tai Tuivasa in February and he has lost his last two fights in front of his home crowd in Texas.
The top of the Heavyweight division is stagnant at the moment with Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic and champ Francis Ngannou out of action for some time which gives an opportunity to those on the rise in the division.
Curtis Blaydes won by default in London and Tuivasa and Gane do battle in Paris in September but Sergei Pavlovich also has the opportunity to throw his hat in the octagon with a win.
His only loss in his 16 fight pro career came against Alistair Overeem, another gatekeeper of sorts, in November 2018.
Since then he has won three fights via first round KO/TKO in a row but there is no doubting that this is his toughest test to date.
Derrick Lewis has more knockouts than any fighter in UFC history and should not be an outsider in this match up in my opinion.