Amanda Nunes Will Face Irene Aldana at UFC 289, Juliana Pena Suffers Broken Ribs
Amanda Nunes will face Irene Aldana for the Women's Bantamweight title has just been announced for UFC 289 in the main event, in Vancouver, Canada, on June 10th, per Dana White.
The oddsmakers are always confident in Israel Adesanya.
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He's lost 3 fights to Alex Pereira, but the oddsmakers still have him as a favorite heading into this weekend.#UFC287 pic.twitter.com/0MF4krsH1v
Amanda Nunes was previously scheduled to face Juliana Pena in a trilogy bout, but Pena has withdrawn from the bout due to suffering broken ribs in training.
This fight takes place in the Women's Bantamweight (135 lbs) division.
Amanda "The Lioness" Nunes is the reigning Women's Bantamweight Champion of the world, holds a professional record of 22-5 (15-2 UFC) and has notable wins over Juliana Pena, Valentina Shevchenko, and Cris Cyborg.
Irene Aldana is ranked #5 at Women's Bantamweight and holds a professional record of 14-6 (7-4 UFC). She holds credible wins over Ketlen Vieira, Yana Santos, and Macy Chiasson.
Official odds have yet to be released.
Amanda Nunes's last two bouts came against Juliana Pena. In the first, she would shockingly lose via second-round submission and lose her title, but she got revenge at UFC 277. Nunes would secure five knockdowns in the first two rounds and then dominate Pena with her grappling for the final three. "The Lioness" will now turn her attention to a new challenge in the Women's Bantamweight division and look to add the first defense of her second title reign when she takes on Aldana.
Irene Aldana was scheduled to face Raquel Pennington in a rematch on June 24th. However, with Pena pulling out of the bout vs. Nunes, she now heads into the biggest fight of her career. Her last performance came at UFC 279: Diaz vs. Ferguson, where she scored a bizarre TKO over Macy Chiasson. Aldana would throw an up-kick off her back, directly hitting Chiasson's liver and sending her down to the mat. She'll look to use her heavy-handed striking to secure the upset over Amanda Nunes in this matchup.
This bout should be an interesting one in the Women's Bantamweight division. As a member of the Verdict Community, let us know your prediction for the bout in the comments below.
