UFC 277 Preview
The UFC will be invading the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas for UFC 277 on Saturday July 30th. The card will feature two rematches for titles and a handful of surging contenders in multiple weight classes. The main event will be a rematch for the women’s bantamweight title between champion Julianna Pena and former champion Amanda Nunes.
Pena defeated Nunes for the title in December at UFC 269 by second round submission in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. The win was Pena’s first shot at a title and was the biggest of her career. Nunes is considered by many to be the greatest pound for pound women’s fighter in MMA and very few gave Pena a chance of beating her. Did we witness a fluke, or does Pena know something we don’t know?
Pena was confident heading into the first fight against Nunes and consistently stated that it was a fight that she wanted for a long time and if she got it, she knew she could beat the future hall of famer. Pena was hurt more than once in the first round of their fight in December but showed incredible resolve to stay in the pocket with Nunes and weather the storm, eventually hurting her and getting her back to submit her.
Pena is confident that she will show the world that her win over Nunes was not a fluke. “At the end of the day, Amanda and I are the two best fighters in the world,” Peña told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 277 media day. “You’re literally getting the two best fighters in the world that are going to collide on Saturday night.
“I can’t tell you that I’m going to pull a rabbit out of the hat. I can just tell you that I’m going to stand there toe to toe with the best in the world, and I’m going to give my best, and we’re going to see whose ovaries are bigger. I’m willing to bet that that’s me.”
The 32-year-old could leave Nunes behind her for now with another win, but she is not certain what or who is in her future. “The torch was passed,” Peña said. “I snuffed it out. I’m ready to close this chapter, and I’m ready to move forward. With that being said, it’s hard for me to predict what’s in the future and what’s going to happen.
“I just want to live presently at the moment, and presently I have a bigger, faster, stronger, new gym, better mental-state Amanda that’s going to be facing me on Saturday night, and I don’t take that lightly.”
Aside from Nunes, Pena has key victories over Sara McMann, Cat Zingano and Jessica Eye. One of her four losses came to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko who is in the argument for best pound for pound women’s fighter in MMA. Should Pena claim the victory on Saturday, Shevchenko’s name is certainly going to be mentioned as the flyweight champion has defeated just about every challenger at 125. So, a rematch between Pena and Shevchenko with Nunes in the background could be big for all parties involved.
Before being defeated by Pena, Nunes was on a 12-fight winning streak and looked unstoppable. She was the first women’s two weight champion in the UFC and she still is the champ at featherweight. She defended the featherweight belt twice before moving back down to bantamweight to face Pena.
The 34-year-old is a definite hall of famer and did not have much left to prove heading into her fight with Pena, but now her purpose has been revitalized. “It’s very exciting for me,” Nunes told reporters at UFC 277 media day on Wednesday. “I’ve been here before, so it’s not a surprise or anything like that. You make mistakes, and you pay, and I did. I lost my belt, but after that, I went back home, fixed what I had to fix. If I had to make some adjustments in movement, I did whatever I need to do.
“I’m going to get that thing back. Losing the belt was never something that put me down or sad. It just kept me motivated and fired me up. I always needed that. I needed that kind of push. What Julianna brought was the challenge I needed. I was without a challenge for so long. Now, finally, I get in the position that I like to feel. I like to feel trapped. These are the moments I love the most.”
Nunes is confident she will be the first two-time two-weight champion in the UFC. “When the lioness is going to attack the prey, they don’t always take it the first time,” Nunes said. “But the second time, for sure. It’s going to be more precise. Now I’m here, and I’m going to get my belt back on Saturday.”
Like Pena, Nunes has a history with flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. She has defeated her twice at bantamweight and before fighting Pena, there were talks of a third fight. If Nunes can win back the bantamweight belt on Saturday, expect the talks of third fight with Shevchenko to be reignited.
Aside from two victories over Shevchenko, Nunes has key victories over Megan Anderson, Germaine de Randamie (twice), Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg, Raquel Pennington, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Sara McMann. A win on Saturday could very well solidify her status as the greatest women’s fighter of all time.
The co-main event of the evening will also be a rematch for the interim flyweight title. Former champion and #1 contender Brandon Moreno will fight surging contender #2 Kai Kara-France. The two first fought in 2019 at UFC 245 with Moreno winning by unanimous decision. Much has changed for both fighters since their first fight, but will the result be the same?
Moreno is coming off a title loss by unanimous decision in a third straight fight with Deiveson Figuereido. With an interim title on the line on Saturday, if Moreno wins, we can expect a fourth fight with Figueiredo. So far Moreno is 1-1-1 against the Brazilian champion and it has all the makings of going down as one of the greatest rivalries in UFC history. The two had been scheduled for a fourth fight but the champion sustained a hand injury. So rather than wait around Moreno wanted to stay active.
“I don’t want to wait,” Moreno said. “Last year I fought in January one time. This year I fight in January and then no fight. I just wanted to fight. I talked with Jason (House), my manager, and I talked with UFC like, ‘Hey, give me a fight for the title. If no, OK.’ I want to fight. I want to be active.”
The Mexican fighter is expecting a different fight with Kara-France this time around. “I’m expecting maybe not the same fight as the last fight in 2019, but I’m expecting fireworks,” Moreno said. “Kai Kara-France loves to go for the finish. He has an amazing right overhand. I’ve proved to the world my hands are very elite right now and my jiu-jitsu. My jiu-jitsu and my ground game are very special too.”
Moreno says with a victory he is still going to press for staying active and not necessarily waiting around for a title shot. “I don’t care about Deiveson,” Moreno said. “I don’t care about that guy. My personal plan is to be healthy for this fight. If nothing really bad happens and I’m not injured, my plan is to fight in December before the end of the year. If Deiveson is not ready, I can fight against the winner of this Saturday, (Alexandre) Pantoja vs. (Alex) Perez, easily.”
Kara-France is riding three straight wins into this fight having most recently defeated Askar Askarov by unanimous decision in March. He landed on everyone’s radar after a highlight reel first round TKO of former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in December at UFC 269.
The New Zealander believes he is a different fighter than the one who lost to Moreno the first time around. “I stopped chasing becoming the champion, and I started to believe it,” Kara-France said. “I feel like that’s definitely what you’re seeing. What you’re seeing is a product of the hard work that we’re putting at City Kick Boxing. I train with world champions day in, day out. I know what it takes. I know the mindset that they have. It’s about having high standards. Ticking off all the boxes, and I’ve done that in my last few fights. I’ve taken no shortcuts. I’m ready to go whereever this fight goes.”
The 29-year-old believes a win on Saturday shows that is ready to be a champion. “It’s a fight that I wanted to run it back,” Kara-France said. “It’s all about timing. The Kai that fought Brandon in 2019 isn’t the same Kai he’s fighting this Saturday. Just completely different. Different headspace being a father and a husband, going through more experiences and just leveling up everywhere. I think the self-belief is the difference. Before, I didn’t really believe it. I truly believe I’m going to be a world champion.”
A win by Kara-France would certainly shake up the top of the flyweight rankings. The real question will be, does he want to wait for Figuereido or will he like Moreno, choose to stay active and keep fighting his fellow contenders?
The rest of the main card:
Heavyweight - #5 Derrick Lewis vs. #11 Sergei Pavlovich
Flyweight - #4 Alexandre Pantoja vs. #6 Alex Perez
Light Heavyweight - #5 Anthony Smith vs. #4 Magomed Ankalaev
Prelims on ABC:
Welterweight - Alex Morono vs. Matthew Semelsberger
Lightweight - Drew Dober vs. Rafael Alves
Heavyweight - Don'Tale Mayes vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab
Lightweight - #15 Drakkar Klose vs. Rafa García
Early Prelims:
Welterweight - Michael Morales vs. Adam Fugitt
Women's Bantamweight - Joselyne Edwards vs. Ji Yeon Kim
Light Heavyweight - Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Ihor Potieria
Welterweight - Orion Cosce vs. Mike Mathetha
