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Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Peña Trilogy Fight Revealed for UFC 289 in June

Mike Chiari

UFC announced Saturday that Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña will fight for a third time in a UFC women's bantamweight title bout at UFC 289.

The fight will take place on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and it is penciled in as the main event.

Nunes suffered her first loss since 2014 when she fell to Peña at UFC 269 in 2021 but won the rematch at UFC 277 last year.

The 34-year-old Nunes has been the most dominant force in women's MMA over the past several years, perhaps eclipsing what Ronda Rousey accomplished during her run at the top.

Nunes started her career an uneven 9-4, but after losing to Cat Zingano at UFC 178 in 2014, she went on a tear, winning 12 consecutive bouts, including victories over Rousey, Miesha Tate, Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm.

During her run of dominance, the Brazilian star won both the women's bantamweight and featherweight titles, but she was finally stopped in her tracks by Peña at UFC 269.

Peña beat her by submission in the second round of their first bout by rear-naked choke, marking only the second time in Nunes' career that she had lost by submission.

While Peña lost to some opponents Nunes had beaten, including Valentina Shevchenko and Germaine de Randamie, she established herself as the No. 1 contender with a win over Sara McMann.

Peña then beat Nunes to win the women's bantamweight title and improve to 11-4, but in their rematch at UFC 277 in June, Nunes outlasted Peña to win by unanimous decision and take back the women's bantamweight title.

Nunes is 22-5 with 13 wins by way of knockout and four submissions, and she can erase all doubt about whether she is still the best women's MMA fighter in the world with another win over Peña.

As for the 11-5 Peña, a second win over Nunes would put her in rarefied air and prove that the first victory was anything but a fluke.

   

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