Amanda Nunes

“The Lioness” stalked her prey on Saturday, then chose to play with her food rather than devour it. There was a real sense that Amanda Nunes could have finished Julianna Pena at several points in their rematch, only to decline to engage on the ground when the champ was hurt. In particular, a round that saw Pena knocked down three times seemed like a good opening to pounce, but Nunes stayed patient instead. And can you blame her? When she did go to the ground with Pena, she had to contend with a very active fighter who threw up a whole lot of submission attempts.

Ultimately, Nunes won a one-sided decision with scores of 50-45, 50-44, and 50-43. That may quell any desire for a third fight, at least temporarily, though Pena is already petitioning for one. Nunes, meanwhile, has suggested defending her 145 lb title next, but against who? The UFC failed to sign Kayla Harrison, and through their own failure, they don’t even have a featherweight division for women — that second belt is a straight up marketing ploy. Gone are Felicia Spencer (retired) and Megan Anderson (currently a free agent), two legit 145’ers that could have been used to help build the division. No one was screaming for a Norma Dumont title shot, and with Macy Chiasson having beat Dumont, no one is screaming for that fight either. No, 145 needs some time to produce a contender, and in the meantime, it’s the perfect opportunity to book Nunes vs. Shevchenko 3.

Nunes’ next fight: Valentina Shevchenko

Brandon Moreno

People will remember the finish more than anything else, but it’s worth noting that Brandon Moreno had to overcome a fair bit of adversity from Kai Kara-France on Saturday. Kara-France was piecing Moreno up at points, with the evidence stenciled on the Mexican’s face: the former flyweight champ had a nasty cut opened under one eye, on top of miscellaneous bumps and bruises. A body kick in the third round changed everything, however: Kara-France folded, Moreno piled on, and claimed an interim title, setting up a fourth fight with Deiveson Figueiredo.

During the UFC 277 post-fight press conference, Dana White espoused some regrets about having Figueiredo enter the cage for a face-off immediately after Moreno’s win. Forget that. What transpired was one of the most memorable moments the flyweight division has produced: an apology from Moreno for alleged racist comments he made about Brazilians, a show of respect from both men, and a promise of a fourth fight. Possibly in Brazil.

There’s no other fight to make. The fourth fight may not even be the last for these two. If ever there was a 1A and 1B in terms of talent in a weight class, it’s Figueiredo and Moreno. Gretzky and Lemieux. Jordan and Johnson. Years from now we may just debate who was truly better.

Moreno’s next fight: Deiveson Figueiredo

Sergei Pavlovich

If one claims that Derrick Lewis was the victim of an early stoppage at UFC 277, as the popular opinion suggests, then how much does this quick KO win actually raise the stock of Sergei Pavlovich? Dana White said following the event that the loss won’t diminish Lewis at all; conversely, that makes it hard to suggest that the win will boost Pavlovich’s standing in the heavyweight division much.

This is a win on paper, to be sure. But it’s White and the matchmakers that matter moving forward. Which means in our attempt at playing matchmaker here, we’re not about to book Pavlovich into a title shot.

Ranked #11 in the division to start the night, it might be an opportune time for some Russian on Russian violence. Alexander Volkov picked up a win over Jair Rozenstruik in June, and is ranked #7 in the weight class. That’s a couple spots back of Lewis, but it feels like Pavlovich will be taking the long road.

Pavlovich’s next fight: Alexander Volkov

Alexandre Pantoja

In a perfect world, it would be a title shot next for Alexandre Pantoja. Especially after a statement victory against Alex Perez at UFC 277.

We’re not in a perfect world. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4 must happen next, leaving Pantoja the odd man out. Sitting and waiting is an option, but the UFC has never been a fan of fighters who do that. This might be the point where the UFC books Pantoja into a rematch with Askar Askarov, who holds a win over the Brazilian. But there’s another option: Kai Kara-France. Though coming off a loss, Kara-France looked good in his interim title fight against Brandon Moreno on Saturday. The timing works out superbly well assuming neither is injured, and this might be the rare flyweight non-title fight that could headline a Fight Night event.

Pantoja’s next fight: Kai Kara-France

Magomed Ankalaev

We’re paraphrasing here, but Magomed Ankalaev basically asked what he had to do to fight for the damn title already following his win over Anthony Smith at UFC 277.

Some will dock points in this case as Smith suffered a leg injury in the fight, but that’s the sport. Smith was himself the beneficiary of a similar injury suffered by Jimmy Crute not too long ago. Beyond that, Ankalaev has won nine straight in the UFC light heavyweight division. That’s impressive.

The problem here is that champ Jiri Prochazka is looking to run it back with Glover Teixeira, and their first fight was flat-out fantastic. That’s probably enough reason to book the second one, especially as Teixeira isn’t getting any younger. Ankalaev might as well be booked against another former champ, Jan Blachowicz, to sort out who is next.

Ankalaev’s next fight: Jan Blachowicz

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Not only was the main event a highly anticipated rematch, but the co-main event of the evening also involved two men who had already gone to war with each other on a previous occasion.

Let’s take a look at what could be next for the losers on the night.

Julianna Pena

“The Venezuelan Vixen” was coming into her UFC 277 rematch with Amanda Nunes with the confidence that despite the changes Nunes had made in her camp, she still had her number.

The question marks over the rematch were whether Nunes’ adjustments would prove fruitful, as Pena was likely going to deploy the same game plan that won her the strap. The beginning of the fight indicated that Pena was in fact going to do more of the same, but what she was met with was a completely different fighter from the last fight.

Nunes stayed on the outside and didn’t allow the champion to get in her face early on, picking her counter shots exceedingly well, causing Pena a magnitude of problems. With Nunes showing a mature composure, Julianna was hesitant to try and get in her face early.

In round two Pena came out with more pressure than in the first five minutes, but she paid for it early on when she was dropped twice with two perfectly timed counter right hands. In the latter rounds Nunes dominated the champion on the mat, and despite some dangerous submission attempts from Pena, she couldn’t retain gold. Nunes now finds herself as the first woman in UFC history to win 10 title fights.

In a post on social media, Pena hinted that she desires a rematch stating that the two are now 1-1. I’m not sure an immediate rematch suits Pena in this case; after losing and being thoroughly dominated, a rematch shouldn’t come next. Although Ketlen Vieira has called for a title shot, I think a fight between herself and Pena should come next while Nunes revisits a trilogy with another champion.

Pena’s next fight: Ketlen Vieira

Kai Kara-France

In the other rematch on the night, Kai Kara-France took on former Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. In their first meeting, Moreno sailed through to a unanimous decision victory after finding himself losing the first round.

Similar to the main event, the former champion made some changes to his camp to attempt to find a new rhythm to his game. “Assassin Baby” decided to part ways with the Entram team for his rematch with Kara-France, and gained the assistance of highly sought after coach James Krause.

The move paid dividends as Moreno secured the third round finish after an enticingly close first two rounds. Going into the third round, the scorecards were all over the place as Sal D’amato had Moreno winning the first two, Douglas Crosby had the Kiwi winning the first two and Jacob Montalivo had them each winning a round.

There is no denying in rounds two and three, Kara-France began to land some nice shots of his own and just like their first meeting, started to invest in some heavy leg kicks. Despite picking up the pace, towards the end of the round he found himself on the end of a brutal body kick from the Mexican that folded him, subsequently losing the fight.

With Kara-France still on the right side of 30, he can undoubtedly fight his way back up to a title shot in the near future. To restart that pursuit, another rematch may be in the pipeline, but this time with Brandon Royval.

Kara-France’s next fight: Brandon Royval 

Derrick Lewis

“The Black Beast” was fighting in his home state for the second time this year at UFC 277. With his first fight of the year not going as planned, the promotion’s leading knockout artist was hoping to get back into the win column this time out.

Unfortunately for Lewis, Sergei Pavlovich was coming in on a hot streak and he managed to continue his winning ways. Despite Pavlovich coming out with the KO win inside a minute, the stoppage was extremely questionable and received a lot of criticism. The two got involved in a heavy back and forth exchange with Pavlovich landing the more damaging shots, resulting in Lewis backing up. Pavlovich continued to put on the pressure after wobbling the big man and caught him with a sharp uppercut, dropping Lewis face down. Although Lewis fell, as soon as ref Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight, Lewis popped straight back up to his feet issuing his complaints of an early stoppage.

With it being a controversial win, some fans are calling for an immediate rematch between the two, but despite it being a tad early, Pavlovich had Lewis hurt and had him dropped to his knees with a big flurry of ground strikes likely to proceed. I don’t like the sound of an immediate rematch and instead, I’d prefer Lewis to take on Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Lewis’ next fight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Alex Perez

After a one year period of six cancelled bouts, Alex Perez was finally set to re-enter the Octagon against a man he hadn’t previously been scheduled to fight. Perez’ last bout came against the current champion back in 2020, where he was submitted in the first round, coming up short in his title challenge. Alexandre Pantoja on the other-hand was coming in off two impressive wins over Brandon Royval and Manel Kape both in 2021.

The inactivity of Perez proved pivotal as after just 1 minute 30, found himself with “The Cannibal” on his back, sinking in a rear-naked-choke. With Pantoja’s pace having caught Perez off guard, the Californian found himself picking up only his third loss of his five year UFC tenure.

With Perez having only fought once in two years, it is key that he gets back in there as soon as he is able to. A fight that makes sense for both fighters having been booked twice before is Perez vs Askarov.

Perez’s next fight: Askar Askarov

Anthony Smith

Coming into his bout with Magomed Ankalaev, “Lionheart” found himself as a huge underdog to pick up his 4th straight win. There was no doubt that if Smith could put a stop to Ankalaev’s impressive run, he would once again be a contender in the Light Heavyweight division.

The 34-year-old veteran was going into the bout having put on a considerable amount of size compared to his last outings. In the first round, Ankalaev landed a perfect leg kick on the Nebraskan which caused Smith to limp back to his stool in between rounds.

Smith claimed after the fight that the leg kick caused a break, but in the post fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that in a scan, no break was detected. It is yet to be determined what the full extent of the injury is but at this stage of his career, it is an injury that “Lionheart” cannot afford.

Fellow former title challenger Dominick Reyes is still looking for a suitor for his return, and a fight between the two could make a whole lot of sense.

Smith’s next fight: Dominick Reyes

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He also suggested Pena had a “chunk” missing from her forehead after the fight.

Some nasty elbows delivered by Amanda Nunes, who reclaimed both her title and double-champ status atop the UFC 277 card, were the likely culprit. Pena was sporting a nasty gash by the end of the fight.

“Julianna’s got a big chunk missing from her forehead,” White told media members at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX during the card’s post-fight press conference. “She’s going to see a plastic surgeon right now.” The UFC President added that the former champ will “take some time to heal, and then I don’t know. She got pretty banged up tonight. It was like five or six knockdowns in the first two rounds. She was hurt.”

“She needs to take some time off, relax, spend some time with her daughter and then we’ll go from there.”

While White is looking at a vacation for Pena — who shocked the world last December by upsetting Nunes, only to be trounced in Saturday’s rematch — Pena herself is already campaigning for a rematch.

She also clarified that surgery would not be required following the loss.

“Tougher than a two dollar steak,” Pena wrote in a statement on social media. “Thanks for the love everyone! Just a cat scratch that required a few stitches, no chunks missing, no surgery necessary. Love you all! We’re 1-1 now.”

In addition to that message, she signed off with the hashtag “#trilogy,” a clear sign of what Pena wants next.

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Among the night’s big winners, the co-main event interim flyweight title fight between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France took home Fight of the Night honors. That, despite stiff competition from the main event (Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes 2) and the lightweight fight between Drew Dober and Rafael Alves.

Moreno looked to be in trouble in the third, with Kara-France finding considerable success. But late in the round, the former champ caught Kara-France with a kick to the body, dropping him. Kara-France covered up as Moreno unloaded with ground n’ pound, bringing about an end to the fight.

Performance bonuses at UFC 277 went to the aforementioned Dober and Alexandre Pantoja. Dober had to contend with a very game Rafael Alves, who at times seemed to duck and dodge punches Matrix-style. But in the third, Dober dug the body with a hook, sending Alves face-down to the canvas.

Pantoja, meanwhile, made a statement against ex-flyweight title challenger Alex Perez, storming out of the gate on the PPV main card. He locked up a rear-naked choke just 91 seconds into the fight.

All four bonus-winning fighters will pocket $50,000 U.S. for their efforts at UFC 277 in Dallas, TX.

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On Saturday, the pair met atop UFC 277 for an immediate rematch which, for the first time in years, saw Nunes enter both off a loss, and as the challenger.

The pair threw down after coaching opposite one another on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, with the Season 30 finals coming early next month.

Pena and Nunes faced off at center for about a minute off the opening bell Saturday night, sizing each other up, feinting and moving, with little actually thrown. Pena opened up about 90 seconds in, firing her right hand. She then fanned on a front kick; Nunes whiffed on a counter, but later landed a low kick. Nunes landed a right hand by the ear as Pena came in, and was showing ample patience.

Through the opening three minutes, Nunes looked like she was in another gear, and she again clipped Pena by the ear, causing the champ to stumble. That happened again moments later; a leg kick followed. In the final 30 seconds, Nunes dropped for a takedown attempt; that was shrugged off by Pena, who landed a jab. Another exchange followed with Nunes and Pena both landing.

In the second, Nunes dropped the champ early! Ref Mike Beltran appeared to take a close look, perhaps with a stoppage in mind. Instead, he wound up letting Pena to her feet, with Nunes again taking a patient approach. Pena then pressed forward, firing punches but was sloppy and wound up caught and dropped again! Again, Nunes let her back to her feet. “The Lioness” fired a leg kick; Pena moved in with a combo, landing at least once. Around the two minute mark, Nunes ducked a kick, and the pair continued to exchange. Nunes caught Pena on the way in, then dropped her a third time in the round, this time with a left hand! Again, Nunes let her up.

Amanda Nunes opened the third with a spinning elbow. Pena closed the distance for a clinch, but Nunes immediately reversed on the fence and freed herself. Pena then clipped Nunes, and the pair exchanged some heavy shots. In a clinch at center, Nunes landed a trip, putting Pena on her back. Nunes was in Pena’s closed guard, with Pena trying to land from the bottom. Nunes slipped in an elbow, but had to contend with Pena fishing for an arm-bar, then a triangle. A couple of big elbows then got through for Nunes, cutting the champ open. Pena would briefly trap Nunes in an omoplata but didn’t have the position.

Nunes would finish the round on top, and head to the fourth with a hefty lead.

“The Lioness” landed an immediate taken as the action got underway in round four. Pena went after an omoplata again, then a triangle, then another omoplata. Nunes was able to defend each attempt, though Pena was certainly keep her busy. Pena then trapped an arm, wrenching on an arm-bar! That looked nasty, but Nunes stepped over Pena’s head with one leg, giving her just enough relief to fight the submission. She’d free herself and was briefly in side control, only to wind up back in Pena’s clearly dangerous guard. Nunes landed some smashing elbows, but Pena scrambled free — even more bloody than before. Nunes would easily land another takedown with just over a minute left in the round. An omoplata attempt followed by a triangle by Pena had Nunes stand up and back off, with ref Mike Beltran motioning Pena back up. That allowed the champ to land on Nunes, wobbling her, but Nunes immediately took Pena down again.

Heading into the fifth, Nunes had a insurmountable lead short of the judges being three blind mice, which meant Pena needed a finish. Nunes fired a leg kick early, Pena then appeared to land a solid punch only for Nunes to immediately take her down. Pena threw up a triangle and omoplata yet again, but as they transitioned it was Nunes with an anaconda in place, though Pena pulled free. They would go back to the feet for mere moments before Nunes got the fight back down and got to side control. Nunes stepped to half-guard, which allowed Pena to chase a kimura. Pena appeared to try to use it to sweep, but Nunes took the back and dragged Pena down. She then transitioned to the top, firing more elbows at the champ.

Time was now a factor, and Pena needed a Hail Mary submission. Instead it was Nunes landing a big right hand with about a minute remaining. Nunes then took the back, got a rear-naked choke in, but Pena broke free and got out of the body triangle to boot! Nunes still wound up on top, dropping some more ground n’ pound before backing off, and doing a little showboating as the fight came to a close.

No question — a dominant performance from Amanda Nunes, who reclaims her bantamweight title, and is once again a double champ.

Official Result: Amanda Nunes def. Julianna Pena by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-43)

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5-2 in his last seven fights, Lewis was undoubtedly still a top heavyweight — but had lost two fights in Houston within the past 12 months.

Things didn’t go any better for Lewis on Saturday, no thanks to a seemingly quick stoppage by the ref.

Needless to say, the crowd in Dallas did not greet Russia’s Pavlovich warmly.  Lewis, meanwhile, got a hero’s welcome, but it was Pavlovich getting the better of Lewis in an early exchange. A right, then a left behind the ear, rocked Lewis. Pavlovich chased, and landed a few more right hands. Lewis went to his knees, but immediately got back up, only to be greeted by ref Dan Miragliotta, who had waved the fight off.

THE BIGGEST WIN OF SERGEI PAVLOVICH'S CAREER 🤯 #UFC277 pic.twitter.com/rEwrTzfPTl

— UFC (@ufc) July 31, 2022

Fans in the arena immediately voiced their displeasure, and Lewis instantly protested, with both not about to get anywhere with their complaints. Fans still drowned out Pavlovich with boos during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

“How do you like that boxing?” Pavlovich asked Rogan. “I did my job, I’m very happy with my performance,” he added, much to the displeasure of the Texas faithful.

As stoppages go, that one was certainly quick, though the win will almost certainly stand, giving Pavlovich the biggest win of his career.

Official Result: Sergei Pavlovich def. Derrick Lewis by TKO, Round 1, 0:55

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The main card match-up was the first fight back for Perez after losing a title bid against Deiveson Figueiredo in November of 2020. While multiple fights had been scheduled for Perez last year, including bouts with Askar Askarov and Matt Schnell, injuries, ailments, and weight misses had scrapped all of them.

Pantoja for his part entered the night off a pair of wins against Brandon Royval and Manel Kape. He came out of it with the third victory — a stunning statement that took less than two minutes for the Brazilian to make.

Round saw one Pantoja came out firing like a madman, throwing left and right hands at Perez with reckless abandon. Pantoja then went in for a takedown, took the back, and stayed on it with a body triangle when Perez stood up. Still dry and in perfect position, Pantoja went looking for the choke. Perez instead gave up the neck crank and then tapped. Just like that, Alexandre Pantoja earned his 10th career win by submission — and inserted himself into the title conversation.

Official Result: Alexandre Pantoja def. Alex Perez via R1 1:31 Submission (RNC)

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The match-up saw the surging Magomed Ankalaev paired up with former title challenger Anthony Smith, who was undergoing something of a career resurgence after a rough spell that dogged him following his initial title bid against Jon Jones.

Smith’s momentum would come crashing to a halt on Saturday, however, in tragic fashion.

In the opening minute, the pair traded leg kicks several times, with Ankalaev later going to the body, and checking some of “Lionheart’s” attacks. Smith would briefly catch a kick with about two minutes left in the round, but Ankalaev quickly pulled his leg free. Much of the round, however, was spent circling and puzzling out distance and timing, with little outside the kicks and single strikes thrown. With about 90 seconds to go, Ankalaev punched his way in, finishing off the attack with a high kick that was blocked. In the final minute, Smith launched a heavy overhand right, and would later go off-balance and fall to his back, not that Ankalaev had any intention of joining him on the mat.

Between rounds, Smith informed his corner of issues with his ankle. Despite that, Smith came out swinging in the second, then drove Ankalaev into the fence. But going to the ground, it was Anskalaev taking the back, landing some big shots on Smith as he was on his knees, covering up. The ref had seen enough, waving it off, after which Smith could be heard saying he had broken his leg — potentially on one of the earlier leg kicks.

A NEW LHW CONTENDER HAS EMERGED!

[ @AnkalaevM | #UFC277 ] pic.twitter.com/qXwhZ7lbfM

— UFC (@ufc) July 31, 2022

“Who do you think broke it? He hit me!” Magomed Ankalaev exclaimed when informed of Smith’s injury. He then proceeded to question why he wasn’t fighting for gold. “How many more fights do I have to win before I can start fighting for the championship?”

Update, 1:45AM ET — Per UFC President Dana White at the UFC 277 post-fight press conference, Smith’s leg is not fractured.

Official Result: Magomed Ankalaev def. Anthony Smith by TKO, Round 2, 3:09

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As the featured preliminary bout at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, plenty of eyeballs would be watching to see if Semelsberger was ready for that next step.

Morono and Semelsberger started the night on three and two-fight win streaks, respectively.

Round one Morono came out with a plan as he began to implement a plan to use the jab and movement to land rights. Throughout the whole first round Alex kept using the same type of attack to land right hands to the point that Semelsberger’s left eye swelled up badly. Semelsberger began the fight a bit reckless ducking and throwing overhands until Morono’s jab game put a stop to it.

Round two Semelsberger came out aggressive looking to put Morono on the back foot, but his opponents game plan quickly ended that rush. Semeslberger’s left eye was clearly compromised as Morono landed what seemed to be any and every right hand he wanted. Later in the round a clinch situation ended up on the ground with Semelsberger on top as he landed heavy right elbows to end the round. Easily the biggest moment for Semelsberger up to this point.

Round three Semeslberger came out on fire and landed a jump knee that put Morono in trouble. Semelsberger threw every strike in his arsenal to try and end the fight, but slowed when they clinched on the fence. Even though Semelsberger’s corner yelled and begged for him to let Morono go to finish him he was unable to. Morono finally recovered and continued his game plan of stick-and-move the rest of the fight.

Official Result: Alex Morono def. Matthew Semelsberger via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

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The fight also served as the coaches fight for The Ultimate Fighter 30, which saw the pair coach women’s flyweights and heavyweights. But despite being in close contact for several weeks, there seemed to be little spark between the two, little to further the rivalry.

That would no doubt be different come Fight Night, with Nunes looking to regain her standing as a double champ (she continued to hold the title in the virtually non-existent women’s featherweight division).

The co-main event of UFC 277, meanwhile, was another rematch for ex-flyweight champ Brandon Moreno. For once not fighting Deiveson Figueiredo, with the champ injured, he was instead matched up with old foe Kai Kara-France. Interim gold was on the line, with the winner looking at a title unification bout later in 2022, or perhaps early in 2023.

Fighting in Texas once again was heavyweight Derrick Lewis, in a heavyweight showdown with Sergei Pavlovich. After losing two fights in Houston and going 1-2 in three fights over the past 12 months, Lewis was looking to secure a big win as the local fave.

Following UFC 277, tune in for the post-fight press conference to see what storylines play out, and what could be next for the key players. A live stream is available above.

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