UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes – preview and betting tips

The UFC has another big tournament coming up and we’re going to see some big fights. Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes will provide the main event. It will be a rematch, the first fight was extremely surprisingly won by Peña. Nunes will be looking to take back not only the belt, but also her reputation as the greatest fighter of all time. Can she do it?

Can she repeat the sensation? A victory no one expected. Quite possibly the biggest surprise in UFC history. Julianna Peña’s unexpected title win in December. Amanda Nunes, until then the most dominant woman in combat sports history, fell.

Nunes was expected to be just another formality. Not very entertaining, not very attractive, but one-sided. But the opposite was true. Nunes hadn’t looked nearly as hungry in previous fights, but she always managed to pull it off. Peña, however, took the wind out of her sails.

She had prepared well for the fight, was extremely hungry, afraid of nothing, and wasn’t consumed by the over-respect of a dominant legend. She was able to hit great shots in the standup and that made the difference, even though Nunes had the upper hand in the first round.

In the end, the American was able to beat the Brazilian in the second round on a rear-naked choke.

But the second fight will be different. At the very least, it’s expected. Because there’s a lot at stake. Before the fight, Nunes was considered the best female fighter not only in the UFC, but in the history of women’s MMA in general.

And it’s a reputation the Brazilian wants to maintain, she wants to show that it was more by chance than the skill of her overwhelmer. She’ll be hungrier, she’ll be more dangerous. Peña will face a lot of pressure and it’s expected that she will succumb to it this time. She went into the previous match with no pressure and no expectations.

However, it is more worthwhile to bet on the number of rounds started. Nunes won’t want to leave the outcome up to the judges on points. Nor will she want to risk being beaten by Peña sooner or later. She’ll want to beat her as quickly as possible, so don’t expect five rounds.