Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña ended one of the most dominant title reigns in recent UFC history tonight at UFC 269: “Oliveira vs Poirier” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Peña submitted long-time titleholder Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes to become the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Peña, who has overcome three serious knee injuries during her MMA career, entered tonight’s title tilt as a significant underdog, but she overwhelmed Nunes in the second round en route to victory. In flyweight action, Erin “Cold Blooded” Blanchfield impressed in a win over Miranda “Fear The” Maverick.
Peña (11-4-0) was dropped twice in the early stages of tonight’s fight, first by a leg kick and then from a right hand, but Nunes (21-5-0) was unable to finish her and she ultimately took Peña’s back on the ground. Peña defended against Nunes’s rear-naked choke attempts and, when Nunes transitioned back to top position, Peña worked for a kimura from the bottom that forced the champion to remain cautious.
In the second round, Nunes landed early right hooks that caused Peña’s left eye to swell up, but Nunes was visibly fatigued and Peña began to take control of the striking exchanges. She backed Nunes up with lead left hooks and overhand rights, then hurt her with another combination and took her down. Nunes had no energy left and she gave up her back. Peña secured a rear-naked choke without even sinking in either hook and Nunes hastily tapped out at the 3:26 mark of round two.
Peña, who sustained ACL tears in 2008 and in 2010, as well as a third ACL tear and a litany of other knee injuries in 2014, has persevered in her quest to become a champion, which culminated in tonight’s upset over Nunes. She has won three of her past four bouts inside the Octagon, with her lone UFC defeats coming against former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie and current flyweight titleholder Valentina Shevchenko.
Tonight’s win also earned Peña a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Earlier on the card tonight, Blanchfield (8-1-0) showcased her most impressive performance to date in a one-sided Unanimous Decision win over Maverick (9-4-0), who took the bout on relatively short notice.
All three rounds of the flyweight matchup were similar, with Blanchfield dominating the action on the mat. She threatened with a keylock in round one, nearly finished the fight with punches and elbows from a mounted crucifix position in round two, and then spent most of the final round in mount or full back control as Maverick did her best to defend on the ground.
Surprisingly, none of the three cageside judges awarded Blanchfield with any 10-8 rounds, but all three returned 30-27 scorecards in her favour. The talented 22-year-old will vault up the flyweight rankings following tonight’s performance, which extended her winning streak to five.
Opening up tonight’s event, Gillian “The Savage” Robertson (10-6-0) overcame two blatant eye gouges from opponent Priscila “Zombie Girl” Cachoeira (10-4-0) in their fight and finished Cachoeira with one second remaining in the first round.
Cachoeira had early success on the feet, and she bloodied Robertson’s nose with jabs, but Robertson scored a takedown and she passed to side control. Robertson soon moved to full mount and landed elbows until she lost the position when attempting to set up an armbar. Cachoeira gave up her back and Robertson sunk in a rear-naked choke. Cachoeira deliberately tried to gouge Robertson’s right eye twice in an effort to escape, but Robertson held on to the choke and Cachoeira tapped out at the 4:59 mark of round one. The much-needed win halted a two-fight losing skid for Robertson.
(Photo Credit: UFC)