UFC 277 took place on Saturday in Dallas, Texas as PNW native Julianna Peña headlined the main card against Amanda Nunes in both fighters’ first bout since Peña shockingly defeated Nunes at UFC 269 last December. The co-main event featured an interim UFC flyweight championship bout in a rematch between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France.
Amanda Nunes Recaptures Bantamweight Title Against Julianna Peña
At UFC 269 last December, “The Venezuelan Vixen” Julianna Peña shocked the MMA world when she defeated the consensus GOAT of women’s MMA Amanda Nunes to take Nunes’ bantamweight strap. After that bout, which Nunes lost via a second round rear-naked choke, Nunes detailed a list of reasons why she didn’t perform well, including a bad knee injury and complications from Covid that negatively impacted her conditioning and training camp. Peña and some in the MMA community chalked that up to nothing more than excuses. Some also questioned whether Nunes had lost her competitive edge after a long run as champion. Nunes vowed that she would make adjustments, dominate this fight and recapture the title. She did just that.
Nunes opened Round 1 with a new look southpaw stance which she utilized for a vast majority of the fight. The new strategy provided immediate dividends as she twice caught and knocked down Peña with a check right hook as Peña charged forward. Peña had some success very late in the round when she landed several hard jabs. Peña also landed a big right hand with fifteen seconds left in the round. Nunes responded well though, with an elbow followed by a big left hand that had Peña backing up. At the close of the round, Nunes landed another straight left hand that appeared to stagger Peña.
Thirty seconds into Round 2, Nunes scored her third knockdown of the fight when she caught Peña with another check right hook. This one landed with much more power than the first two hooks that caused knockdowns, as Peña fell over awkwardly and appeared to hit the back of her head on the canvas as her legs went up over her head. Nunes decided not to follow Peña to the ground and Peña was a bit wobbly as she returned to the feet. Peña, as tough as they come however, seemed to recover fairly quickly. But a big Nunes straight right hand once more sent Peña crashing to the mat with 3:45 left in the round. Nunes again decided to let Peña back up to the feet. Peña, as dogged as she is, landed a big three punch combination shortly thereafter that started with a lead right hand. Peña scored a bit later with the same combination, landing two hard shots. Peña continued to have some success with a nice front kick-right hand combination that backed up Nunes several steps. But a hard left hand from Nunes stunned Peña with ninety seconds left in the round. Seconds later a straight left hand by Nunes put Peña on the mat for Nunes’ fifth knockdown of the fight.
Midway through Round 3, Peña had a nice moment when she landed a hard left hand and shortly after landed a solid combination. But Nunes then turned to wrestling as she landed a takedown. Nunes was able to control Peña for the rest of the round as she landed several hard elbows, one of which opened a cut on Peña’s hairline.
Fifteen seconds into Round 4, Nunes ducked under and drove through a takedown and was immediately on top in Peña’s guard. Peña quickly went to work attempting to isolate Nunes’s left arm to work a submission but Nunes was able to pop out and immediately landed three hard punches. With three minutes left in the round Peña had Nunes in a tight armbar attempt but Nunes was able to free her arm. After a few huge elbows from Nunes, Peña once more went for an armbar, but after Nunes freed her arm, Peña was able to quickly standup. After a short reset on the feet, Nunes ducked under and was able to land another takedown. With just under a minute left in the round Nunes let Peña back to her feet. Then with thirty seconds left in the round, Nunes scored another takedown. Nunes landed one more hard elbow to close the round.
Early in Round 5, Nunes landed a double leg takedown and was immediately in Peña’s guard. Peña attacked with a triangle attempt before transitioning to an omoplata. After escaping Peña’s submission attempts, Nunes briefly looked for an anaconda choke before the fight returned to the feet. Fifteen seconds later Nunes landed another takedown and from side control immediately attacked with several hard elbows. After Peña attacked with a kimura, Nunes briefly transitioned to Peña’s back. After Peña released the kimura, Nunes took top position and landed more punishing elbows. Nunes decided to stand and immediately Peña landed an up-kick. Nunes shortly thereafter landed a big right hand from her feet that hurt Peña. With Peña still grounded, Nunes moved to side control. Nunes then looked for the crucifix position and as Peña turned belly down to defend Nunes took her back and briefly appeared to have sunk in a rear-naked choke but Peña was able to work out of the submission attempt shortly before the fight ended.
Peña to her credit, showed incredible toughness in this fight and when taken down never stopped attacking from bottom position with submission attempts. However, Nunes is the greatest women’s MMA fighter for a reason and she was dominant in this fight. The judges scored it 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43.
Brandon Moreno Finishes Kai Kara-France With Devastating Body Kick
Brandon Moreno, the former UFC Flyweight Champion, won the Interim UFC Flyweight Championship with an impressive finish of Kai Kara-France. Moreno has now set up a fourth title fight against current Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
Moreno scored early in the first round with a couple of solid jabs in an otherwise slow start to the fight. Midway through the round, Moreno lunged forward and clipped Kara-France with a nasty left hook. Moments later, Kara-France scored with a hard inside leg kick, but Moreno was quick to counter with a solid left hook. Kara-France scored with a big right hand with just under two minutes left in the round. Shortly thereafter Moreno ducked under and shot for a single leg takedown but Kara-France did well to defend. Kara-France scored late with a big right hand. Round 1 was very close and could have been scored either way.
Early in Round 2, Kara-France continued with his heavy leg kick attack as he landed a couple of solid low kicks. Moreno later attacked with a hard inside leg kick and followed with a body kick. Midway through the round, Kara-France scored with a heavy low leg kick. Both fighters’ pace and output picked up later in the round. Late in the round, Kara-France timed a nice low sweeping kick off of a missed Moreno head kick that put Moreno on the mat. Kara-France scored with several leg kicks late in the round, but Moreno answered by attacking with a combination finishing with a hard body kick.
Kara-France got off to a good start in Round 3 when he caught a left body kick by Moreno and then sweeped Moreno’s standing leg with a low kick, putting Moreno on the mat. In Moreno’s guard, Kara-France immediately attacked with punches and landed on solid right hand. Moments later, Kara-France opened a cut under Moreno’s right eye with an elbow. Moreno then was able to put his legs on Kara-France’s hips to kick off but as Moreno was working his way to the feet Kara-France landed several big punches that appeared to briefly sting Moreno. The fighters then began trading strikes in some of the busiest moments of the fight. Kara-France scored with a low kick. Moreno scored with a couple of jabs and a body kick. Kara-France landed a nasty two punch combination that started with the rear hand. Then midway through the round, Lara-France landed a heavy leg kick as Moreno’s lead leg was showing significant redness from all of Kara-France’s leg attacks.
It was a brilliant sequence of events from Moreno to finish the fight. After Kara-France ducked under for a single leg Moreno pushed off and then blasted Kara-France with a nasty spinning backfist. As Kara-France began to back up Moreno took several steps in and landed a perfectly placed liver kick that dropped Kara-France. With his body shut down all Kara-France could do was cover up as Moreno stood over him and hammered away with punches before the bout was called off at 4:34 of Round 3.
Sergei Pavlovich Gets Quick But Controversial TKO Victory Against Derrick Lewis
Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (all-time great fight name!) is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster for a multitude of reasons. He is a legitimately hilarious dude. Who could forget his insane comeback win over Alexander Volkov? After that fight, Lewis took off his fight shorts, stripped down to his underwear and explained in his post-fight interview that he stripped because “My balls was hot.” Epic.
Another reason Lewis is loved so much is because his fights tend to end one way or another with a knockout. Unfortunately, this time it was Lewis who suffered the TKO. Sergei Pavlovich went to work quickly in this one. The finishing sequence started with an overhand right that put Lewis off balance. Pavlovich followed with an uppercut that had Lewis in trouble. Lewis then backed up along the cage and a huge right hand dropped Lewis to the canvas. The referee then waved off the fight at 0:55 seconds of Round 1.
The ending was controversial because after falling a bit awkwardly face down to the canvas, Lewis shot right back up and did not appear to be seriously hurt or unstable despite the referee stoppage. Fortunately, in the post-fight press conference Dana White acknowledged that he thought the stoppage was premature and that the fight would not diminish Lewis in the promotion’s view.
Alexandre Pantoja Blitzes Alex Perez and Secures Quick Finish Via Neck Crank
Alexandre Pantoja wasted no time getting the fight started as he immediately blitzed former flyweight title challenger Alex Perez straight out of the gates. Pantoja quickly connected with four or five punches and Perez was game as he fired back, but Pantoja kept moving forward and after grabbing Perez’s body he took Perez down with a trip. As Perez tried to get back to his feet, Pantoja jumped on Perez’s back and secured the body lock triangle. Pantoja quickly secured the tap via neck crank at 1:31 of Round 1. For his impressive performance, Pantoja was awarded a performance of the night bonus.
Magomed Ankalaev Gets TKO Over Anthony Smith After Smith Breaks Ankle
It was an unfortunate ending for Anthony Smith in this one as he suffered a broken ankle midway through the first round in this light heavyweight bout with Magomed Ankalaev. In a fairly slow first round, the action began to pick up later in the round. At the end of the round, Smith was limping back to his corner. Smith came out in Round 2 and pressured Ankalaev as the fighters traded strikes. Smith shot for a takedown and had Ankalaev pressed up against the cage. Unable to finish the takedown, Smith decided to pull guard. Smith sat upright for several moments before a hard left hand from Ankalaev caused Smith to roll onto his back. Five or six vicious punches from Ankalaev then caused Smith to turn face down. After another eight or so hard shots the referee called a stop to the bout via TKO at 3:09 of Round 2.