Julianna Pena’s ‘upset of the century’ stuns sporting world

Julianna Pena’s victory over Amanda Nunes has been lauded as one of the greatest upsets in not just combat sports, but across all sports.

Alex Conrad

2 min read

December 12, 2021 - 9:44PM

Julianna Pena shocked the world to defeat Amanda Nunes. Picture: Main Event

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It almost seemed as if Julianna Pena was in total disbelief herself when she forced Amanda Nunes to tap out.

Perhaps rightly so, considering Pena went into the fight as a massive underdog, and that’s an understatement.

Nunes was riding a 12-fight win streak, had not tasted defeat in seven years and was the champion of both the women’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions, why would she not be a heavy favourite going into the bout?

The opening round went almost as expected: Nunes was dominant, laying on brutal shots and in complete control over her adversary.

Perhaps the fight would just be another procession and help Nunes lay further claim to her argument as the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter on the planet.

Pena looked out of sorts in the first round as Nunes dominated in typical fashion. Picture: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP

But something clicked with Pena during the break between the first and second round.

Exactly what that may have been is unclear and whatever it was, it damn sure worked.

Much like a butterfly hatching out of a cocoon for the first time, Pena let her wings, rather hands, fly and clobbered Nunes with a number of stinging shots.

The champ wore a stunned look on her face.

The cogs in Nunes’ mind were ticking over: Who is this challenger, and why does she have the gall to hit me? Who does she think she is?

There wasn’t much time for Nunes to think - after all, she was being walked down by a woman who had everything to gain and was peppering her with shots.

Punch after punch had the crowd gasping and wondering, is the impossible actually possible?

Nunes caught her opponent with some clean shots of her own and looked for a close elbow to nail Pena down to the canvas for good, but it proved elusive as Pena refused to give in.

The pair worked their way to the fence, and from there, Pena secured the takedown that stunned onlookers.

She took control of Nunes’ back and slipped in a rear-naked choke.

And before Pena knew it, the champ had relinquished her stronghold on the belt via the tapping of her hand.

Job done, upset complete. Picture: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP

That was it. One of the biggest upsets this sport had ever seen was complete.

UFC announcer Bruce Buffer made it official with a trademark “and new”, leaving Pena grinning from ear to ear.

But was the result a shock to her?

In a surprising post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, maybe it wasn’t.

“I’m not surprised, mother****er,” Pena exclaimed.

“I told you. Don’t ever doubt me again!”

Pena and her team may have been the only ones who saw it coming, and even then the moment it all became official would surely have sent shivers down their spines.

Upset of the Century! WTF! #UFC269
— John Hyon Ko (@JHKMMA) December 12, 2021

I canâ€™t believe Julianna Pena subbed Amanda fucking Nunes. Oh my God. #UFC269 such a great sport.
— Damien ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¿ (@DABartonek) December 12, 2021

PENA ISNâ€™T EVEN CELEBRATING. SHE IS STONE COLD. THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST UPSETS IN UFC HISTORY. NUNES WAS A -1100.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 12, 2021