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Irene Aldana replaces Julianna Peña at UFC 289, challenges Amanda Nunes for title
Amanda Nunes has a new UFC 289 title challenger, nixing her trilogy vs. Julianna Pena – at least for now.
With Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) out of the June 10 pay-per-view main event due to broken ribs, Mexican bantamweight Irene Aldana (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will step in to fight Nunes (22-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and challenge for the UFC women’s bantamweight title. The card takes place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC president Dana White broke the news Tuesday on social media.
Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2
— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023
Prior to the initial booking of Nunes vs. Peña 3, some fans thought Aldana already did enough to earn her crack at the title and give Nunes a fresh matchup. The promotion elected to go with the rubber match instead.
Aldana, 35, has won back-to-back fights and four of her most recent five outings. The two most recent appearances were TKO victories over Yana Santos and Macy Chiasson.
Aldana was scheduled to headline the promotion’s upcoming UFC Fight Night event May 20 in a rematch vs. Raquel Pennington. No replacement fighter or matchup has been announced at this time.
Should Aldana defeat Nunes, she will be the fourth Mexican fighter to hold gold in the UFC right now, joining flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, and interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez.
Nunes, 34, has not competed since UFC 277 in July when she won the women’s bantamweight title back from Peña, who had upset her previously to claim gold. The submission loss to Peña in December 2021 is Nunes only loss in her most recent 14 fights, dating back to early 2015. Nunes also holds the UFC women’s featherweight title.
The latest UFC 289 lineup now includes:
- Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana – for women’s bantamweight title
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
- Adam Fugitt vs. Mike Malott
- Chris Curtis vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
- Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
- Chris Daukaus vs. Khalil Rountree
- David Dvorak vs. Matt Schnell
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
- Lucas Almeida vs. Hakeem Dawodu
- Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
- Michel Pereira vs. Stephen Thompson
- Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
- Aori Qileng vs. Aiemann Zahabi
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
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