The trilogy bout between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña will headline UFC 289 in Vancouver, Canada.
Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has disclosed to Aaron Bronsteter, a Canadian broadcast associate of TSN, that the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled on June 10th at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver will have a women’s bantamweight trilogy fight as its main event.
Just spoke with UFC President Dana White who confirms that Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Peña 3 will headline UFC 289
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 7, 2023
The bout features, champion Amanda Nunes will be taking on former champion Julianna Peña for the third time in a row. Over the course of the last two years, the bad blood between these two women has grown immensely. Back in December 2021, Peña shocked the world when she defeated Nunes by submission at UFC 269. Fast forward to six months later and Nunes was able to regain her title by unanimous decision to UFC 277.
Now, these two ladies will be running it back for a third time at the newly announced UFC 289 card in Vancouver, Canada.
The UFC returns to Canada with a title bout between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña
Prior to her loss to Peña, Nunes had previously won her last 12 bouts in a row, at both bantamweight and featherweight. She has not defended the featherweight title since March 2021, mainly due to the lack of contenders at 145 pounds. However, there was another option that the UFC was toying with prior to setting up this trilogy bout. Nunes was briefly associated with a possible fight against Irene Aldana earlier this year but that fight never came to fruition.
Peña has been calling for a rematch with Nunes since she lost the belts. She believes that she has what it takes to defeat Nunes and once again be called champion.
UFC 289 will be taking place in Vancouver, Canada on June 10. This will be the first time the UFC has returned to Canada since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally the plan was to hold this event in Alberta but that plan changed and now the bantamweight champion and number one contender will be headlining this Canadian return event.
