UFC 269

UFC targeting December for Charles Oliveira – Dustin Poirier

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It looks like we will finally find out who the best lightweight in the UFC is in December. MMA Fighting reported this afternoon that the promotion is zeroing in on a date for the proposed lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira (31-8) and Dustin Poirier (28-6, 1 NC).

That date is December 11th and the event is UFC 269. Worth noting that the UFC has not finalized this and contracts have not been signed. That said, the promotion is moving in that direction and is scheduled to have meetings over the next couple of days to get things finalized.

Finally, Dustin Poirier is going to get another crack at the undisputed UFC lightweight title. After Khabib Nurmagomedov retired and vacated the lightweight title, many thought that Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira should have fought for the vacated title.

However, Poirier decided to secure a money fight instead. Poirier had defeated Conor McGregor back in January and the UFC offered Poirier a title shot or the trilogy with McGregor. Poirier opted for the trilogy fight which was the second highest selling UFC PPV in history.

The Diamond defeated McGregor again in July and his gamble paid off. He secured his big bag of money and now he’s getting the title shot that he deserved all along.

First UFC title defense for Oliveira

Oliveira was in the UFC’s plans for the interim title regardless of what happened with Poirier. Again, Poirier opted to go after the trilogy with McGregor which left Oliveira without an opponent.

Ultimately, the UFC booked Oliveira against Michael Chandler for the vacant undisputed lightweight title. Chandler dominated the first round of the fight and looked moments away from getting the stoppage and becoming UFC champion.

However, Oliveira stayed in the fight and held on until the end of the round. Just seconds into the second round, Oliveira dropped Chandler and went on to finish him to become the UFC lightweight champion.

Now, we are going to get the fight we should’ve had months ago. Make no mistake about it, Oliveira and Poirier are the two best lightweights in the UFC. Now, we will truly find out who is the king at 155 pounds.

UFC rebooks Amanda Nunes – Julianna Pena

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The UFC has rebooked a massive title fight in the women’s bantamweight division. The promotion announced today that Amanda Nunes (21-4) will return to defend her bantamweight crown against Julianna Pena (10-4) in December.

The fight will take place at UFC 269 on December 11th. Originally, these two were supposed to fight earlier this month in the UFC 265 co-main event. However, after Nunes tested positive for Covid, the fight was called off. 

Pena was vocal about wanting an interim UFC title shot if Nunes wasn’t going to be able to fight anytime soon. However, the promotion was able to get this fight back on the books relatively quickly.

Back at UFC 257, Pena defeated Sara McMann by third round fear-naked choke. After the fight was over, she started calling for this fight with Amanda Nunes.

Pena stated that the UFC‘s two-division champion had been ducking her for years. The callouts were odd to me considering where Pena was in the division. The Venezuelan Vixen is just 2-2 in her last four and was put to sleep against Germaine de Randamie last October.

Nevertheless, the trash talk seemed to work and the UFC decided to give Pena the fight. If the current rankings hold, Julianna Pena will enter the cage in August as the fifth ranked bantamweight.

UFC 269 Grudge Match

Amanda Nunes is the greatest of all time and let’s be clear, Julianna Pena really doesn’t deserve this shot at UFC 269. Her resume doesn’t exactly make her the number one contender. Especially considering the top contender just put her to sleep in 2020.

However, Pena called out the champion and that’s what she’s getting. Nunes has defeated the best the UFC has to offer at both 135 and 145 pounds. Pena is one of the few bantamweights that Nunes hasn’t had the privilege of fighting yet.

Perhaps that had a lot to do with this booking as well. Either way, it should be a fun build back up to UFC 269. The last time we saw Nunes was when she demolished Megan Anderson at UFC 259.

The win was Nunes’ second straight defense of her featherweight title. Now, Nunes will return to the division that made her a champion for the first time.