LAS VEGAS: In one of the biggest surprises in MMA history, challenger Julianna Pena defeated UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes via a rear naked choke in the second round at UFC 269 in Las Vegas.
Nunes falls to 21-4 in her MMA career, snapping her 12 fight win streak and bringing her record in the octagon to 14-2. The previous No 3 Pena moves to 11-4 in her career, and moves to 6-2 all-time in the UFC.
The belt changed hands for the first time in more than five years. After struggling in the first round, Pena came out aggressively in the second round, landing a number of heavy jabs to the head of the champion. Pena caught her off-balance on the wall and then brought her to the mat, choking her into submission 3:26 into the round for a stunning defeat.
Nunes loses despite being -1000 to win, and those that had Pena to win by submission picked up tickets at +2200. Nunes had made five successful defenses of her bantamweight title prior to meeting Pena.
“I’m not surprised expletive,” Pena said in her post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I told you.” Nunes, for her part, was graceful in defeat. “I did everything tonight,” Nunes said. “I trained very hard for this fight. Congrats to Julianna.”
Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier – fresh off two wins over Conor McGregor – lost via submission to current UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
The main event, Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier, delivered thrills early, with both fighters coming out firing in the first round. Poirier got the better of the striking match in the first round, but Oliveira gained an edge in the second when he was able to grapple Poirier to the ground and rail him with elbows.
The third round was quick. It took just a few seconds for Oliveira to get on Poirier’s back and place him in a rear naked choke, extending his UFC record with his 15th submission and officially securing his first title defense despite coming into the fight as an underdog to the more experienced Poirier.
