Amanda Nunes reclaims UFC world title from Pena, Brandon Moreno wins interim title at UFC 277

Amanda Nunes avenged her defeat and reclaimed the UFC women’s world bantamweight title following a decisive unanimous decision nod over Julianna Pena in the main event of UFC 277 this Sunday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Both fighters exercised a more cautious approach in the early going contrary to their first encounter. Nunes switched stances and when she opts to be a lefty, catches Pena with a hard right hook that managed to hurt the latter a couple of times.

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— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 31, 2022

The same right hand dropped Pena in round two. She got up and went to attack Nunes only to get dropped again with a hard right hook again. After a few more exchanges of strikes, Nunes dropped Pena for the third time in the round with a straight left hand.

Pena came back in round three as she landed punches of her own that stunned Nunes. The fight eventually got to the mat where Pena looked to get a submission while Nunes unleashed heavy ground and pound that opened a cut on the former's hairline.

Nunes went straight for a takedown in the opening seconds of round 4 where Pena almost got an armbar. They fought on the canvas once more in the 5th and final round where Pena bathed in a pool of her blood before making it to the final bell.

All three judges saw the fight for Nunes, improving her professional mixed martial arts record to 22-5 while Pena dropped to 11-5.

In the co-main event, former UFC flyweight world champion Brandon Moreno claimed the UFC interim flyweight title with a technical knockout over Kai Kara-France. After a back and forth battle, Moreno caught his foe with a perfectly timed body kick that sent Kara-France to the canvas.

Moreno followed up with a series of punches on top which prompted the referee to halt the contest at the 4:34 mark of round three.

—JMB, GMA News