Nunes vs Aldana Prediction: Is the Champion Ready?

Amanda Nunes makes a return to UFC 289 for a new Bantamweight title defense. How will she look after almost another year without fighting? Will Irene Aldana defeat her and prove that Nunes' time is finally over? Here is our Nunes vs Aldana prediction.

UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana Prediction

Amanda Nunes Preview

Amanda is a 34-year-old athlete from Brazil. She made her UFC debut in 2013 against Sheila Guff, whom she knocked out in the 1st round. In July 2016, Amanda, as the main contender, knocked out Misha Tate in 3 minutes and became the new champion of the women's bantamweight division.

After 2 years, in December 2018, Nunes moved up to the women's featherweight division, knocked out the champion Cris Cyborg in 51 seconds, and became the first holder of 2 titles in the history of the promotion.

In 2020 and 2021, Amanda focused on defending the belt in the women's featherweight division and returned to the bantamweight only in December 2021 in a duel against Juliana Peña, when she lost the title. She regained it last year in the rematch.

Nunes' Fighting Style & Skills

Amanda is a versatile fighter. In the standing position, she relies on her kickboxing skills. The champion has a large arsenal of punches, has knockout power, and constantly presses and throws inventive combinations.

In wrestling, Amanda relies on a background in judo and BJJ. In these disciplines, she has black and brown belts, respectively.

We have to note that Nunes' form was affected by complications from Covid-19. In the summer of 2018, Amanda had been ill with a coronavirus and even before the fight with Peña, she stated that she had complications in the form of breathing problems.

Moreover, she seemed tired in her last couple of fights. She also gave birth and has been focusing a lot more on her family life. But based on her recent interviews, she seems to be motivated again and this will help us in the Nunes vs Aldana prediction.

Irene Aldana Preview

Irene is a 33-year-old athlete from Mexico. She started her professional career in 2012. Before moving to the UFC, in addition to performances in regional promotions in Latin America, Irene was marked by fights in Invicta FC. There she had 5 fights: 4 won, 1 lost. The only defeat in Invicta, Aldana received in a title fight. She lost to Tona Evinger by TKO in the 4th round.

Irene's debut in the UFC took place in December 2016 in a duel against Leslie Smith, whom she lost by unanimous decision. Aldan did not manage to get on the winning path right away. In her second fight in the UFC, she lost a split decision to Kathleen Chookagian in April 2017.

In January 2018, the Mexican got her first victory in the UFC. She defeated Talita Bernardo on points. After that, Irene defeated Lucie Pudilova by a split decision and took Bethe Correia by submission.

The Mexican's 3-win streak ended in July 2019 when she lost a split decision to Raquel Pennington. But after that, Aldana gave out 2 convincing victories, defeating Vanesa Melo on points and knocking out Kathleen Viera in the 1st round.

Irene was one step away from the title fight. In order to challenge division champion, Valentina Shevchenko, Aldana had to defeat former title holder Holly Holm in October 2020. But “The Preacher's Daughter” did not give Irene a chance to win and beat her on points, taking each of the 5 rounds.

Since then, Aldana won twice against Yana Kuintskaya and Macy Chiasson. The problem is that those were her only fights in the last three years.

Aldana's Fighting Style & Skills

Irene is a boxer. She throws good combinations and has knockout power. Due to the high pace, she inflicts serious damage on her opponents and breaks them due to this.

Aldana feels the moment when it is necessary to connect grappling. She easily takes middle-class opponents to the ground, where she controls them and focuses on scoring points with ground and pound.

Aldana has problems with her mentality. She gets lost when the fight does not go according to her plan, gets angry, and, trying to turn the tide of the fight, goes into unnecessary exchanges. It was because of this that she lost several of her fights in the past.

In the standing position, Irene has a poor defense. She misses about 5 shots per minute. So far, her strong jaw saved her, but in a duel with a hard-hitting opponent, Aldana can easily fall into a knockout.

Amanda Nunes vs Irene Aldana: Nunes With a 6th Title Defense

You can bet on a couple of our Nunes vs Aldana predictions here. First off, we think that Nunes will win this bout via KO or submission. She has to prove that her time is not over yet. Moreover, Aldana is a fighter that loses focus and if this happens, Nunes will use the advantage immediately.

The only chance for Aldana to win this one is to turn it into a dogfight from minute one. Nunes hates not having control and this is the only chance anyone has against her – to catch her with early pressure. But in the end, we believe that Nunes will win this one and there will be less than four rounds too.