Julianna Pena Injured; Irene Aldana Steps in to Challenge Amanda Nunes at UFC 289

It may not be how she envisioned, but Irene Aldana is now facing the opportunity of a lifetime.

On Tuesday, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White revealed in a Twitter video that bantamweight title challenger Julianna Pena had been forced to withdraw from her rubber match with Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 on June 10, due to broken ribs. White announced that Nunes would instead be defending her title against Irene Aldana, who had previously been scheduled to rematch Raquel Pennington in the main event of UFC Fight Night 224 on May 20.

Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2

— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023

The Nunes-Pena fight would have settled a series that sat at 1-1. At their first meeting at UFC 269 in December 2021, Pena turned the longtime two-division champ into a one-division champ, snatching Nunes' bantamweight strap by second-round submission in a near-consensus “Upset of the Year,” and one of the biggest-ever UFC title fight upsets. The “Lioness” got her revenge last July at UFC 277, regaining the belt by unanimous decision in a one-sided drubbing. The rematch was clear-cut enough that some observers questioned the need for a trilogy, including Nunes herself, who admitted that she had been expecting her next challenger to be Aldana. The 35-year-old Mexican will enter her title bid on a two-fight winning streak and having won four of five since losing a split decision to Pennington in their first meeting nearly four years ago. Aldana’s most recent appearance, last September at UFC 279, saw her stop Macy Chiasson with a rare upkick to the body in a 140-pound catchweight contest.

UFC 289 takes place on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is scheduled to be headlined by the Nunes-Aldana bantamweight title fight, with a probable lightweight title eliminator bout between former champ Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush set for the co-main event. The event will mark the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first trek north of the border since Sept. 14, 2019, when Justin Gaethje and Donald Cerrone headlined UFC Fight Night 158 at the very same Rogers Arena.