Kyte: Everyone would love a 10-second knockout or a quick submission, but that’s not often how these things go, especially not at the championship level. Instead, it’s usually the competitor that has crafted the better game plan and did the better job of executing things inside the Octagon that comes away with their hand raised and the gold around their waist.
So, how does either woman get it done on Saturday night?
Madden: I think for Peña, she’s going to have to grapple again. I think this fight is going to be quite a bit different than the first one, with a lot of changes coming from Nunes’ side of things. But for Peña, I don’t think a lot has to change: I think she did a really great job of what she was trying to implement — which is to make it a dogfight — and she just has to make this thing ugly and use her grappling like she did last time.
As for Nunes, she’s really going to have to stay disciplined. I really think skill-for-skill, she’s better almost everywhere on paper, and the things that she lacked in the last fight were mental and related to her lack of discipline in that fight.
UFC 277 Countdown: Full Episode | Peña vs Nunes 2 | Moreno vs Kara-France 2
If she stays disciplined like the former champ that she is, I think she will find success. She had a great first round last time, but then got caught brawling and caught up in whatever it was on the mental side of things in that fight, so if she can stay disciplined, and find a home for that right hand, that should take care of most of it in the fight for her.
Montoya: I would say that for Nunes it’s not even technical; it’s mental. Where are we at? Is she training like a savage and a hungry fighter or is she content with where she sits in life, and if she wins, she wins, and if she doesn’t, she doesn’t?
If you want to break it down and get real technical, if you allow Nunes to stay out at range and torque her punches, put you on the back foot, circle the perimeter, cut the cage off, and make that fight smaller than the entire Octagon — that’s the technical fight Nunes needs to have.
OTHER FREE FIGHTS: Moreno vs Kara-France 1 | Kara-France vs Garbrandt | Figueiredo vs Moreno 2 | Nunes vs Holm
With Peña, she showed in her last fight that she can get hit, withstand some of that, still keep the pressure going, and eventually find an opportunity to win.
I don’t really think the game plans switch a whole lot — I think it’s ultimately down to who can implement it again, and then mentally, where are both fighters? Are they both content or are they both just wanting to create a legacy and showcase that they’re going to hold this belt for a long time and no one is going to stop me?
