Amanda Nunes retaliates with a one-sided win over Julianna Pena to reclaim the title in the UFC 277 main event

Amanda Nunes promised she would have her revenge, and that’s exactly what she delivered in the UFC 277 main event.

After a shocking upset cost her the bantamweight title in their first encounter, Nunes left no doubt in the rematch as she punished Julianna Pena for five straight rounds to win a lopsided unanimous decision. The judges rated the fight 50-45, 50-44, and 50-43 as Nunes became a two-time 135-pound titleholder and again a simultaneous two-division champion while still holding the featherweight gold.

“Honestly, when the lioness didn’t catch the prey the first time, I set the trap better and knew I’d catch her the second time,” Nunes said after her win. “Again double champion. Let’s go.

“The best thing I did was make my gym a reality. I feel safe in my gym. I feel like I can grow even more. I’m really evolving. I was supposed to do this for the first time, but I wasn’t ready for it yet. This is the best day of my life.”

It was a much more restrained approach for Nunes in the rematch as she learned her lessons from the first fight by staying on the outside while delivering some hard punches and several stiff kicks to the calf. Peña put up a good defense as she timed her counterattacks while trying to stay out of range of Nunes’ considerable power.

As Peña started moving forward with more aggression, Nunes tagged her with a big right hand that continually landed on target. Peña was momentarily dropped by a couple of those punches, but Nunes stayed patient as she continued to set up her punches instead of rushing forward to search for the target.

Peña’s coaches wanted to make some adjustments between rounds, but she ended up being thrown hard to the canvas by another nasty right hand. With Peña on shaky legs, Nunes cracked her with another big punch, but sort of the former Ultimate Fighter Master refused to go.

A straight left in the middle brought Peña down to the mat again, but Nunes still refused to go down with her, allowing “The Venezuelan Vixen” to recover enough to get back on his feet.

As the third round began, Peña steadily moved forward, delivering punches to Nunes’ face as she tried to finally change the momentum in what had become a one-sided fight. Nunes countered with a takedown as she eventually landed at Peña’s station where she began ground work.

With Peña tucked under her, Nunes began raining down elbows, resulting in a series of lacerations to the head as blood spurted out. Thanks to her success on the ground, Nunes Peña moved on to the silver screen, where she asserted her dominance.

Peña did her best to threaten submissions, including an armbar, which surprised Nunes for a moment, but the Brazilian got to her feet before finally breaking free. From there, Nunes continued to punish from above while Pena’s face turned into a bloody mess.

The strategy stayed the same for Nunes in the final five minutes as she simply kept putting Peña on the floor and controlling the action from there. Nunes continued to pound Peña as she watched the seconds tick by until she was bantamweight champion again.

When Peña finally got back on her feet, she wore a crimson mask made up of multiple cuts along her forehead as Nunes celebrated her victory with her wife Nina and daughter Reagan, who joined her in the cage. With the win, Nunes is now seeking a bit of a hiatus after back-to-back bouts against Peña as well as a season’s coaching The ultimate fighter also against each other.

“Let me sit down, let me go back to Brazil. I haven’t seen my family in three years because of the pandemic,” Nunes said. “I need a little rest. I know you guys want to see me again, but leave the ‘lioness’ alone for a while and I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Unless Nunes decides to return to 145 pounds, where there are virtually no competitors for her right now, a third fight against Peña seems like the logical next step, but for now it seems like the reigning UFC champion of the two Divisions to let the dust settle and take a well-deserved vacation before making any decisions affecting her career.