The last major UFC pay-per-view event of the year will be UFC 269. Two champions will be defending their titles as Amanda Nunes takes on Julianna Pena for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship and Charles Oliveira squares off against Dustin Poirier for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt will also be in action, making this a star-studded affair.
UFC 269 will take place on Saturday, December 11, 2021. This event will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada starting at 10 p.m. ET.
Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier
Current UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira hasn’t lost a fight in over four years. His last defeat was at the hands of Paul Felder, and he has been electric since moving up to lightweight from featherweight. Oliveira holds the UFC record for most submission wins and most finishes. He has submitted 14 opponents and has finished 17 of his foes since joining the UFC. His only decision win over the last seven years was a unanimous decision victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 256 last year.
Dustin Poirier was the interim UFC Lightweight Champion a few years ago. Poirier won a unanimous decision over Max Holloway to claim the title, but he surrendered the belt to the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov five months later. He easily finished Conor McGregor twice this year, and he is now looking to retake the title with Nurmagomedov enjoying his retirement. Poirier is more of a proven commodity than Oliveira, so he has a good chance to take the strap from his opponent.
Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena
The Lioness is the Queen of the UFC. Amanda Nunes has surpassed Ronda Rousey as the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all-time, and she currently holds the UFC Women’s Bantamweight and UFC Women’s Featherweight Championships. Nunes has won 12 straight fights, and her last loss came in September 2014. She has defeated fellow champion Valentina Shevchenko twice in that stretch, and Nunes has great knockout power.
Julianna Pena is going to have her hands full when she takes on Nunes for the title. Pena has lost two of her last four fights, and she was submitted by Germaine de Randamie last October. The challenger has nice wins over Jessica Eye, Cat Zingano, and Sara McMann, but Nunes is in a class of her own.
Geoff Neal vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
The last two fights haven’t gone Geoff Neal’s way. After winning seven straight contests, he lost unanimous decisions to Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny within the last year. However, his impressive wins over Niko Price and Mike Perry have him ranked just ahead of Santiago Ponzinibbio ahead of this fight.
Ponzinibbio also has a recent win over Perry, and he has a transitive win over Neal with his victory over Magny three years ago. We saw Ponzinibbio sidelined for over two years because of a staph infection, but he has now fought twice this calendar year. This figures to be a pretty even fight.