Julianna Peña's upset of Amanda Nunes stunned the MMA world
If you ever wondered how Buster Douglas' upset of Mike Tyson would have gone down in the age of Twitter, Saturday's shocker might be a decent approximation.
Amanda Nunes, the two-belt UFC champ and overwhelming pick as the greatest female fighter in MMA history, fell to heavy underdog Julianna Peña by second-round submission at UFC 269. Nunes had entered the fight as a -1000 favorite and Peña a +650 underdog via BetMGM.
The fight began with more of the same from Nunes' career: absolute dominance. Defending her bantamweight belt, Nunes landed plenty of shots in the first round before taking Peña to the ground and controlling the fight from there.
Things changed as soon as the second round began. Peña suddenly started landing jab after jab to Nunes' chin and the champion never seemed to find her footing from there. Peña eventually took her down and locked in a rear naked choke, triggering Nunes' first tap-out since the first fight of her career in 2008.
Even as it was happening, it didn't seem real, most of all to Peña, who seemed to have trouble processing what she had just done.
JULIANNA PENA SHOCKS THE WORLD 🌎 #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/LNr4amWe94
— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021
Meanwhile, here's how the broadcast booth was handling it:
These reactions to Julianna Pena's win over Amanda Nunes 😳 @espnmma #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/z14Zrp5Xp7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 12, 2021
The MMA fighters watching from home didn't do much better handling what may go down as the biggest upset in MMA history.
WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. 🤯
— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021
What?!!!!!!! #UFC269
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) December 12, 2021
WWOOOOOOOOWWWWW 😳😳😳😳😳 PEÑA!!!!! #UFC269
— Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (@WonderboyMMA) December 12, 2021
Wooooooooooow!!! What did I just watch?? Peñaaaaaaaa!!! #UFC269
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) December 12, 2021
Crazy!!!!! #UFC269
— BriannaTheBull (@briannathebull) December 12, 2021
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!! NEVER FORGET THAT!! #UFC269!
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 12, 2021
Biggest upset in ufc championship history ?????? #ufc269
— Kay Hansen (@KayHansenMMA) December 12, 2021
WHAT !!!!! #UFC269
— Casey Oneill (@kingcaseymma) December 12, 2021
I cant believe what I just saw! #ufc269
— Leah Letson UFC (@LeahNidasMMA) December 12, 2021
Wow that was absolute insanity!
— Deron Winn (@DeronWinn) December 12, 2021
Wowwwwww man a underdog story for real
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) December 12, 2021
🤯🤯🤯 #UFC269
— Tanner Boser (@BulldozerBoser) December 12, 2021
One of the biggest upsets of all the time.#UFC269
— Diana Belbiță (@DianaBelbita) December 12, 2021
Absolutely amazing ! Congrats to the Venezuelan vixen!!!!! That’s why they play the game ! #ufc 269 @venezuelanvixen
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) December 12, 2021
Not all of them didn't see it coming, though.
What did I sayyyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/rjPjqpZAV0
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 12, 2021
If anything, the person who handled it best was Nunes, who delivered an uncommonly gracious interview after Peña took her belt. It probably helps that she knows she'll get an immediate rematch.
Gracious in defeat, this isn't the last we will see of @Amanda_Leoa 🦁#UFC269 pic.twitter.com/NnRf1WC2zu
— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021