LAS VEGAS — Julianna Peña’s face was blank, and emotionless. She was on her knees and reached over to hug Amanda Nunes. A Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) inspector came over and pointed Peña to her corner, where a ringside physician tended to Peña’s bruised left eye.
Peña had just beaten the indomitable Nunes, the greatest women’s fighter of all time by almost any measure. She had just become the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. She had just shocked the world.
The more than 18,000 people in attendance Saturday night at UFC 269 at T-Mobile Arena knew all of those things. Peña was clueless. She leaned over to ask the doctor what was going on.
“I said, ‘What happened?'” Peña said at the postfight press conference. “He said, ‘It’s over, you’re done. Congratulations.’ I was like, ‘Oh! Gee, I didn’t even know.'”
Peña thought maybe the round had ended and she and Nunes would fight on. She never felt or saw Nunes tap, which she did at 3:26 into the second round. But after talking to the doctor and her longtime coach Rick Little, a smile formed on Peña’s face. And all of a sudden, she started climbing up the cage to celebrate.
That visual will not soon be forgotten. Peña, a +650 underdog per Caesars Sportsbook, ended Nunes’ 12-fight winning streak. UFC president Dana White said the upset was “up there” with Matt Serra’s stunning knockout of Georges St-Pierre in 2007 among the biggest in UFC history.
How did Peña stunningly become UFC women’s bantamweight champion on Saturday night? ESPN asked several people who had a firsthand perspective of the epic moment to recall what they saw.
Nunes won the first round handily, dropping Peña with a right hand, reversing a Peña takedown attempt and spending the rest of the round in top position on the ground.
Little: “I loved the first round. I loved how it was going. I was worried that [Nunes] was going to run.”
Mike Brown, Nunes’ coach at American Top Team: “The grappling early was a bad idea. I thought it…
Source : espn
