When Will Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes Fight Again

Welcome to The Weekly Takedown , Sports Illustrated'southward in-depth wait at MMA. Every week, this cavalcade offers insight and information on the nigh noteworthy stories in the fight world.

Julianna Peña felt the tidal moving ridge of momentum rush toward her.

Amanda Nunes had dictated the pace in the first five minutes of their fight in Dec at UFC 269, giving every reason to assure that her win streak would spring from to xiii. Merely then the unthinkable happened–Peña stood upwards to Nunes in Round ii, pummeling the women'southward bantamweight champ with shot after shot after shot. Suddenly, Nunes looked exhausted. The narrative had changed, forcefully, and information technology was just a matter of time before the inevitable inevitably occurred.

"It never crossed my mind that I couldn't practise this," Peña said. "Yes, I took some heavy shots. But it's a fist fight. I've been doing this for 13 years. I know I'm going to go hit. When y'all get hit, that'southward the moment that shows whether yous'll crumble or succeed. I knew that I had to walk through that fire. If I could accept those shots and keep walking, I knew I'd exist fine."

Julianna Peña (r.) moves in with a hit confronting Amanda Nunes during UFC 269 at T-Mobile Arena.

Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

More than but burn, Peña unleashed a fiery fighting spirit in that career-defining second round. Particularly telling was the look on Nunes' face. One time the flick of supreme confidence, fright and doubt suddenly appeared in her eyes. That is when Peña brought Nunes to the mat, locking her in a rear-naked choke and shocking the fight globe with a stunning victory against the seemingly unbeatable Nunes.

"Her optics were getting equally big as plates, and I could see her wilting," Peña said. "In that moment, I started thinking, 'I retrieve I could terminate her on my feet. I think I might be able to f------ knock her out.' And all I could see was a bounding main of white, which were my trainers jumping effectually shooting, 'Get! Press her! Printing her!'"

Peña finished the fight with her submission, and has been basking in a whirlwind of glory ever since. That includes starring on the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter, which premieres on ESPN+ on May 3, where she volition jitney against Nunes.

"My entire career, I've wanted to coach on The Ultimate Fighter," said Peña, who won The Ultimate Fighter in 2013. "When y'all get your black belt, all suddenly they say yous become a white belt and your job is to give back to the sport. This is my time to aid guide this new crop of up-and-coming fighters in the UFC. It'south something I've always wanted to practise, and I'm really happy to have this opportunity."

Julianna Peña.

Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

Peña's showtime title defense will be a rematch against Nunes. Back-to-back victories confronting Nunes would elevate Peña to an entirely new realm of greatness–simply she has even grander ambitions: Peña wants a fight confronting Ronda Rousey.

"That has always been a fight that interests me," Peña said. "When Dana White allowed women into the UFC, he just handed Ronda a chugalug. She didn't take to compete, she didn't have to do annihilation. He just said, 'Hey, welcome to this promotion, hither'south this shiny belt.' Subsequently he gave her the belt, she had to fight Liz Carmouche. At that point, I'm on The Ultimate Fighter. I wasn't fighting one person, I had to fight iv people. When I came out as the winner, I was set up to confront Ronda."

When Peña won The Ultimate Fighter, she fought on Miesha Tate's team against a squad led by Rousey. Although Rousey has not fought since her loss to Nunes in 2016, Peña still vividly recalls her discussion with Rousey from nearly a decade ago.

"Ronda told me, 'Yous're going to give me a tougher fight than Miesha Tate could ever dream nearly–but when that day comes, I'one thousand notwithstanding going to kick your donkey,'" Peña said. "And I said to her, 'We'll see.' And so, of course, I want to fight Ronda. That was a fight I was gunning for before I tore out my knee [in 2014]. When I came back, she lost and ran off and hasn't come back. But I have a feeling that she wants to come back.

"It bothers her that she left on two knockout losses, and that she never came back to avenge those. If she always does become an itch to avenge those losses, I would love the opportunity to compete against her and fight her. I don't think that that'south going to happen. Let's face it, she'southward a star. She'southward killing it in the WWE, and she tin make a ton more coin doing what she does over there instead of doing the real s---. But if she wants to challenge herself and come back to the existent stuff, I'll be here."

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Ronda Rousey during the Royal Rumble The Dome at America'southward Center.

Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

While a fight confronting Rousey would be a massive payday and a pay-per-view headliner, Peña has plenty to focus on in the present with a appointment in the Octagon looming against Nunes. She has remained confident, believing that her victory was no fluke, instead the outcome of more than a decade of perseverance and dedication to the craft.

"I've been on the scene since Dana White immune women into the UFC," Peña said. "So that night against Amanda was a reminder that I'm here. I've been hither all along. I haven't gone anywhere, and I'm here to stay. I want people to follow me on my journey as I tread through these uncharted waters equally champion.

"I'yard going to make it a fight against Amanda again, and estimate what? I'grand going to go hit again. That's something I already know, and I'm comfortable in those uncomfortable positions. That's what I practise every day and so I can survive there and and then I tin thrive there. That'southward what separates the aristocracy from the average."

The championship fight confronting Nunes embodied Peña's fighting spirit. She was willing to stand up upwards and fight–and testify she was tougher in the cage than Nunes, an unimaginable notion prior to their fight. She believes that history will repeat itself when they run information technology back, when she can evidence there is no doubt over who is the all-time in the earth.

"You are your merely limit," Peña said. "If you don't believe in yourself, how are y'all going to look other people to believe in you? No one can have away the amount of work I put in. When you put in the work, when yous grind hard, you tin confidently go in at that place and say, 'I'm going to impale them.' There is a lilliputian dog inside you that says, 'I'grand not quitting.' Well, now I've got a big canis familiaris inside of me that'south literally going to bite somebody's head off if they come up virtually me. That's how focused I am. That's how ready I am. That'south how hard I've been working. No 1 can take that away from me.

"For me, information technology's all about the road to the rematch against Amanda. And I have an unwavering fight within me that I know I tin do information technology."

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ONE Championship announces game-changing media rights deal

ONE Title has arrived in the U.s..

Their new media rights bargain with Amazon Prime Video was announced Wednesday, a five-year agreement where Prime number Video will circulate a minimum of a dozen alive ONE Championship martial arts events annually.

I, which is the globe'southward largest martial arts arrangement, is already a height-five global sports holding for viewership and engagement. The promotion offers globe-class MMA, as well as Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling.

There is a distinct uniqueness Ane brings to fight fans in the United States with all of those disciplines. The most captivating Muay Thai roster in the world now has a slot in U.S. primetime, as do the submission grapplers, who are some of the true icons of the sport. No other promotion in the U.South. offers anything beyond MMA, then Ane now separates itself with the power to show something completely new at the highest levels of combat.

The outset shows on Amazon will be critical for One, and it will be of import to give something different to fans. If presented correctly, Muay Thai could have a huge audience. This is game-changing news from Ane, and a globe of potential now exists for their future.

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The Pick 'Em Section:

Hither are my picks for this Saturday's UFC Fight Night carte du jour, which I think will be a breakout performance for Rob Font:

UFC Fight Dark principal result: Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera

Pick: Rob Font

UFC heavyweight tour: Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake Collier

Pick: Jake Collier

UFC featherweight tour: Andre Fili vs. Joanderson Brito

Pick: Andre Fili

UFC lightweight bout: Jared Gordon vs. Grant Dawson

Choice: Grant Dawson

UFC featherweight bout: Darren Elkins vs. Tristan Connelly

Option: Darren Elkins

Last week: 2-3

2022 record: 52-22

More MMA Coverage:

• Urijah Faber Non Ruling Out Cub Swanson Fight, only Focused on A1 Combat Series Debut
• Q&A: Alexander Volkanovski Talks Title Defence at UFC 273 and What'due south Side by side
• UFC Fight Nighttime 205 Results: Jessica Andrade Nails Historic Standing Asphyxiate on Amanda Lemos

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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Source: https://www.si.com/mma/2022/04/28/julianna-pena-amanda-nunes-ronda-rousey-ufc-womens-bantamweight-division

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