Upset Of The Sport!
When Julianna Pena did the Impossible…
December 2021. On the last UFC Pay-Per-View of the year. UFC 269. It was not the Main Event between Charles “Do Bronx” Olivera and Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier that captured the hearts of fight fans around the world, but it was the Co-Main Event which, by the end of the night, became THE talking point of the whole card.
A moment of history. Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold levels. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey levels… might I go on? 11th December 2021 would go down as a historic night, where once again, a David defeated their Goliath. T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, Nevada. Where something magical would happen.
You see? To truly understand the magnitude of this upset, you have to first go back to 2015, nearly 6 years before, to when a young Amanda Nunes was ready to take over the UFC’s Women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions. A relative nobody at the time, a young “Lioness” hailing out of Bahia, Brazil was all but another fresh-faced, Brazilian prodigy, ready to make her mark on Mixed Martial Arts like many of her countrymen before her.
Now notice how I didn’t say “countrymen and women?” Because during 2015, the UFC was just getting started with their Women’s divisions and their main attraction, Ronda Rousey had just shot to stardom. But, for all that it’s worth, Women’s MMA at the time, was considered nothing but a sideshow event comparative to their male counterparts. In fact, it was Nunes’ dominance which drew in the crowd of hardcore fans to tune in to the Women’s division, after putting up an impressive unanimous decision win against future Flyweight superstar and current UFC Women’s Flyweight title holder, Valentina Shevchenko.
And when the momentum started to roll, it never stopped. With each name put in front of her, Amanda Nunes completely and utterly destroyed them. With an undefeated streak stretching over 6 years, during that time she’s fought and defeated an incredible resume including superstars such as Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Holy Holm. She, the now Women’s Bantamweight champion of the world, was so dominant that the organisation had created a 145-pound division… which she ALSO proceeded to dominate, becoming the first ever female UFC Champ-Champ (holding titles in two weight classes simultaneously).
Enter Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena. Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner and the #andnew UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion of the world. A 3 year absence after a loss to Valentina Shevchenko saw to Pena not even stringing a more than one win streak before getting a chance to fight for the title. Yes. Amanda was so dominant, that the Dana White and the UFC decided to take a chance on Pena. To say she was the underdog that night is more than an understatement. Simply put: she had no chance. None, Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nada and any other words that fall into that description.
Heading into the fight, the betting lines told the story. A -1000+ favourite before even stepping into the Octagon, it was a sure win for The Lioness in her era of dominance. Pena was just another name to cross off the list. But like they all say, once that cage door slams shut and the fight begins, anything can happen…
And the unthinkable did.
Early pressure in Round one saw to the predicted dominance we all expected from Nunes, pummelling the Spokane native with heavy shots to the head after a singular leg kick downed her. But the underdog never gave up, and after withstanding the technical brilliance that was the Brazilian’s ground game, she scraped by and made it out the first.
We didn’t know it yet, but as Marc Goddard, the referee called for the second round to begin, we were less than 5 minutes away from witnessing history. After pinpoint accuracy had shaken the champ with crisp combinations in the centre of the Octagon, Pena landed a takedown and swiftly put The Lioness to sleep with a rear-naked choke.
Then it all set in. And after the official decision was announced by Bruce Buffer, it was all but reality, Amanda Nunes’ reign at the very top of the game had came crumbling down inside 10 minutes and Julianna Pena was now officially crowned #andnew. A 11-fight win streak was no more. The GOAT of Women’s MMA was defeated and we were all left speechless.
Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” had just shook up the world…
Oh to live that moment all over again, the things I would do. Simply unthinkable. Impossible. It could not happen. But it did. Alas, UFC 269 to me, will forever go down as the perfect showcase of the thrill and the agony of Mixed Martial Arts…
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