The UFC closed out an unbelievable year of fights with arguably the biggest upset in the history of the sport at UFC 269 as Julianna Pena became the bantamweight champion.
In an absolutely stacked card that saw nine finishes from 14 fights, we saw the incredible reign of Amanda Nunes as champion come to an end when Pena took her back in the second round and secured a submission.
It was by far the biggest upset of the year and potentially ever, as Pena overcame all the odds to fulfil her dream of being world champion with the win.
The fight didn’t start too well for Pena, who was dropped by the first leg kick Nunes threw and then dropped by the first right hand that connected too.
She kept coming forward though, just as she said she would, and turned the fight into an all-out brawl in the second round after Nunes controlled the first round on the ground following the second knockdown.
Pena stood toe-to-toe with Nunes and started landing her jab and clearly hurt Nunes, who looked out of sorts on the night compared to her usually efficient and lethal self. When Pena saw that Nunes was suddenly exhausted, she landed some big shots, got a takedown and immediately choked her for the tap.
It snapped a 12-fight win streak for Nunes and means that for the first time since UFC 200 she isn’t the title holder in the women’s 135-pound division.
A rematch will almost certainly happen, with Dana White confirming that the fight is there for her if she wants it and the ‘Lioness’ claiming in her post-fight interview that she will “go back to the gym and come back better”.
In the main event it saw the culmination of two amazing journeys to the top of the UFC lightweight division go head-to-head, and it was Charles Oliveira who came out on top after once again coming from behind.
Oliveira started with a tremendous pace but saw himself get knocked down twice in the opening round by the power and combinations of Poirier on the feet. He switched it up in the second round, using his takedowns to dominate on the ground and earn the round back with tremendous control and vicious elbows.
The third round ultimately saw Oliveira go for the kill, jumping on a standing rear-naked choke after changing levels for a clinch again and forcing a submission.
It means he has now won an insane ten fights in a row and extended his record of having the most finishes in UFC history and most submission wins in UFC history during his career.
For Poirier now, it seems as though his title chase is over once again but the era of ‘Du Bronx’ can now truly begin.
We also saw the ‘Suga’ show live and direct once again as Sean O’Malley earned a brilliant first-round knockout win over Raulian Paiva in the main card opener.
It was a mature performance from O’Malley, who showed great composure and intelligence in his shot selection once he had Paiva hurt with a big right hand. He threw plenty of strikes but all were accurate and mixing up targets, before a huge body blow and right hook ended things.
While star continued to rise, Cody Garbrandt’s has fallen to an all-time low after he was knocked out in the first-round of his flyweight debut by Kai Kara-France.
The former bantamweight champion was knocked down three times in the fight en route to a fifth defeat in six fights and his future in the company looks bleak now following the recent run of results.
It was a brilliant card all in all, but it was forever be remembered as the night that the ‘Venezuelan Vixen’ tamed the ‘Lioness’.
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