MMA
UFC 277 preview: Nunes seeks revenge against Pena
Amanda Nunes looks to regain her champion status as Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France battle for the interim flyweight title in Deiveson Figueiredo’s absence.
We preview the main event on a star-studded card, which includes a bantam and flyweight title bout.
Julianna Peña v Amanda Nunes II
The bantamweight world number one, Amanda Nunes, arguably goes into this fight with the better record. 21-5-0 is an excellent career by any fighter’s standards and one that will surely put some doubt in the mind of the current champion, Julianna Peña.
Though holding an impressive record herself with 12-4-0, the much greater experience of the title challenger will be a significant help in a fight that will undoubtedly require resilience and smart tactical thinking – skills that develop over a long career.
The superior record that accompanies the challenger, Nunes, also the current featherweight champion, sees the Brazilian enter as the favourite to win the bout and therefore claim the Women’s Bantamweight title at 4/11.
However, when they last met Julianna Peña shockingly beat Nunes with a rear-naked choke to steal the title, so it would be unwise to believe that the outcome of this rematch is set in stone.
The US-born champion is renowned for her choke holds, winning 50% of her fights by submission. Though she is the underdog in this fight, she is 5/1 to win by submission once again.
Winning 62% of her fights by knockout, Nunes will look to counter the agility of smaller women and attack with sheer power and speed. She is 6/5 to succeed in this strategy and reclaim her title belt.
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Brandon Moreno v Kai Kara-France
The co-main event on what will be a fascinating UFC 277 is the interim flyweight title bout between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France.
Unable to defend his title due to injuries sustained during a trilogy fight with Moreno, Deiveson Figueiredo has been forced to surrender his status to a new champion.
Moreno is the clear favourite in this bout and will likely use his recent experience fighting the world champion to his advantage.
Drawing to Figueiredo in the first of the three fights, Moreno went on to win the second, claiming the flyweight title before losing in the third to a unanimous decision. He goes into this title bout at 1/2 to claim back his belt.
Winning the majority of his fights by decision, Moreno is 3/1 to win via that method this time around.
Though he is the underdog, Kai Kara-France has 24 wins to his name and despite standing three inches shorter than Moreno, he all but matches him on reach while maintaining the added agility.
Winning 46% of his fights via knockouts, Kara-France still has a great chance of pulling out a surprise and is 8/5 to win the fight, with his chances of winning by KO/TKO or DQ 9/2.
