Tag: Amanda Nunes

Amanda Nunes retains title in lackluster fight, confirms retirement from MMA – UFC 289 Highlights

Amanda Nunes‘The Lioness’ Amanda Nunes returned to the Octagon on Saturday night for a bantamweight world title showdown in the UFC 289 main event. Nunes set out to defend her 135-pound crown against No. 5 ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana inside the Rogers Center in Vancouver. Irene Aldana struggled to find any offense in the opening […]

Amanda Nunes

‘The Lioness’ Amanda Nunes returned to the Octagon on Saturday night for a bantamweight world title showdown in the UFC 289 main event. Nunes set out to defend her 135-pound crown against No. 5 ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana inside the Rogers Center in Vancouver.

Irene Aldana struggled to find any offense in the opening round as Nunes asserted her dominance and peppered her opponent with a variety of strikes. Near the four-minute mark of the first round, Nunes got a little overzealous and moved in allowing Aldana to land a solid right that caused a small cut near Nunes’ left eye. While it was arguably the best strike of the round, Aldana’s lack of activity likely lost her the first five minutes.

Rounds two and three saw ‘The Lioness’ continue to land strikes at will as Aldana simply could not find an opening to unleash her hands. In the third, Nunes, opted to mix it up, using her wrestling skills to forcefully take Aldana to the mat on multiple occasions. Clearly down three rounds at this point, Aldana was strongly encouraged by her corner to move forward and let her hands go. Aldana attempted to do just that in the fourth, but her offense was still stagnant as Nunes looked sharp as ever.

With her victory all, but certain, Amanda Nunes took things to the ground in the opening moments of the fifth round. Nunes kept her opponent’s back pinned to the mat through the final five minutes, putting an exclamation point on an incredibly dominant performance inside the Octagon.

Official Result: Amanda Nunes def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-43)

Following the contest, Amanda Nunes laid down both of her UFC championships along with her gloves and officially announced that she will be retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts.

Check Out Highlights From Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana at UFC 289 Below:

Amanda Nunes Beats Irene Aldana to Defend Women’s Bantamweight Title at UFC 289

Amanda Nunes continues run the UFC women’s division after successfully defending the bantamweight championship with her victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289.…

Amanda Nunes continues run the UFC women’s division after successfully defending the bantamweight championship with her victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289.…

Amanda Nunes Announces Retirement at UFC 289 After Defending Title vs. Irene Aldana

Amanda Nunes exits the UFC as a champion. The 35-year-old successfully defended her bantamweight championship with her unanimous decision victory over Irene…

Amanda Nunes exits the UFC as a champion. The 35-year-old successfully defended her bantamweight championship with her unanimous decision victory over Irene…

Valentina Shevchenko snaps back at Amanda Nunes after ‘The Lioness’ squashes trilogy talk: ‘She’s not a good person’

Valentina ShevchenkoValentina Shevchenko still plans on completing her trilogy with reigning two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes, even if ‘The Lioness’ has seemingly moved on. Nunes will be back in action on Saturday night as the promotion returns to the Great White North for UFC 289, headlined by a women’s bantamweight world title fight between Nunes and […]

Valentina Shevchenko

Valentina Shevchenko still plans on completing her trilogy with reigning two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes, even if ‘The Lioness’ has seemingly moved on.

Nunes will be back in action on Saturday night as the promotion returns to the Great White North for UFC 289, headlined by a women’s bantamweight world title fight between Nunes and No. 5 ranked contender Irena Aldana. Should Nunes leave Vancouver with her 135-pound crown intact, ‘The Lioness’ will likely find herself once again on a collision course with division rival Julianna Pena, but a third meeting with Shevchenko seems inevitable to everyone. Everyone, except Nunes.

Appearing at the UFC 289 media event on Wednesday, Nunes suggested that a third fight with Valentina Shevchenko “don’t sell nothing” and further disrespected the former flyweight world champion, believing the ‘holes in her game‘ directly led to her submission loss against Alexa Grasso in March. ‘Bullet’ didn’t take kindly to Nunes’ comments and snapped back at the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT.

“I think this fight is still going to happen,” Shevchenko told CBS Sports. “The number one step is taking my belt back.

“I can definitely say the same thing about her fight with Julianna Pena. I feel like she’s trying to put everyone down and take away the respect they deserve. I feel it’s not good. Being a professional, being a martial artist, you have to give credit to everyone. Seeing things like this just shows what kind of person she is. She’s not a good person it looks like.”

Valentina Shevchenko is Determined to Take Her Belt Back in Alexa Grasso Rematch

In December 2021, Julianna Pena shocked the world when she practically walked through Amanda Nunes at UFC 269, submitting ‘The Lioness’ in the second round to capture her first UFC title. The ‘Venezuelan Vixen’ handed the strap back to Nunes seven months later, suffering a dominant five-round unanimous decision defeat. With the fighters sitting at 1-1, a trilogy fight always felt inevitable though it wasn’t one fans were clamoring for.

Experiencing her own shocking upset inside the Octagon this year, Valentina Shevchenko believes being a champion for so long makes one feel complacent and at times, practically invincible. But now that she has been brought back down to earth, she’s ready to get back to what made her a world champion in the first place, just as Nunes did in her rematch with Pena.

“Being the champion for a long time, you get used to it,” Shevchenko said. “Everyone is saying you’re the greatest and you’re the best. You take it even if you don’t want to listen. Your brain takes it. Now it’s back to the roots. Back to how you started. To be fierce and angry like you were at the beginning. They can study me all day long. All year long. They will actually take nothing from that. Yes, she can repeat a sequence and take a chance opportunity, but I won’t give her any chances in our next fight.”

A rematch between Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso is expected to go down before 2023 comes to a close, but no official date or location has been announced.

Despite Amanda Nunes already holding two victories over Valentina Shevchenko, do you want to see them complete their trilogy?

Julianna Pena takes shot at Amanda Nunes: ‘She’s probably thankful for me making her relevant again’

julianna penaFormer UFC bantamweight champion, Julianna Pena continues war of words with former foe Amanda Nunes. In December of 2021, Pena scored the biggest win of her career when she shocked the world, submitting Nunes in the second round of the co-main event of UFC 269. It marked Nunes’ first loss since 2014, ending a 12-fight […]

julianna pena

Former UFC bantamweight champion, Julianna Pena continues war of words with former foe Amanda Nunes.

In December of 2021, Pena scored the biggest win of her career when she shocked the world, submitting Nunes in the second round of the co-main event of UFC 269. It marked Nunes’ first loss since 2014, ending a 12-fight winning streak. An instant rematch was called, which Nunes would dominate over the scheduled five round, winning a unanimous decision.

With it being one a piece, a trilogy match was called for the headlining fight for UFC 289, but Pena had to withdraw from the contest due to injury.

Julianna Pena calls out Amanda Nunes

While it has not been anything malicious, the pair have exchanged words with one another and there certainly seems to be tension between them. Talking to Shak MMA, Pena would continue the war of words between them.

“Everybody always has that one person that’s just stuck in their butt and that’s me for Amanda,” Pena said. “I know that she knows that. I think at the end of the day she’s probably really thankful for me making her relevant again when I beat her because no one really cared about Amanda Nunes because she was just stomping everybody out and knocking them out in the first round.

“So, I think that they were excited to see somebody come in and stop her dead in her tracks with dominance and I think they were excited to see the savagery and the heart that I had. The determination to never give up in the second fight and unfortunately for me, I ran out of time.” (H/ T MMA Mania)

Julianna Pena talks with Shak MMA, discusses former opponent Amanda Nunes

Do you want to see a third fight between Julianna Pena?

Amanda Nunes Considered UFC Retirement But Didn’t Want Julianna Peña with UFC Title

Amanda Nunes weighed retirement from the UFC after her loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 in 2021, but she ultimately opted against it. “I decided to not…

Amanda Nunes weighed retirement from the UFC after her loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 in 2021, but she ultimately opted against it. “I decided to not…