Julianna Pena out of UFC 289 with a broken rib, Amanda Nunes now defends title against Irene Aldana

The trilogy between Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes will no longer be happening at UFC 289.

UFC president, Dana White took to Instagram to announce that Pena has suffered a broken rib and is out of their scheduled main event fight. However, Irene Aldana has agreed to step up on short notice and will now headline the pay-per-view event for the bantamweight title against Nunes on June 10 in Vancouver, Canada.

Irene Aldana was supposed to headline UFC Vegas 73 against Raquel Pennington on May 20. As of right now, it’s uncertain who Pennington will now fight or if the promotion will find a new headliner. But, the Mexican will now be fighting for UFC gold against Nunes on June 10 following Pena’s withdrawal.

Amanda Nunes (22-5) reclaimed the bantamweight title last time out as she scored a decision win over Julianna Pena at UFC 277. In the fight prior, she suffered a second-round submission loss to Pena to lose the title in a stunning upset. Before the loss to Pena, Nunes was on a 12-fight win streak and is the current women’s bantamweight and featherweight champ. She also holds notable wins over Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Germaine de Randamie, Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, and Valentina Shevchenko, twice among others.

Irene Aldana (14-6) is on a two-fight win streak and coming off a TKO victory over Macy Chiasson and before that, scored a first-round TKO victory over Yana Santos. Aldana is currently ranked fifth at women’s bantamweight and this will be her first crack at UFC gold. In the UFC, the Mexican is 7-4 with notable wins over Ketlen Vieira and Bethe Correia.

With Pena out and Nunes-Aldana now the main event, UFC 289 is as follows:

• Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana
• Charles Oliveria vs. Beneil Dariush
• Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
• Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira
• Nassourdine Imavov vs. Chris Curtis
• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
• Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
• Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
• Kyle Nelson vs. Blake Bilder
• Matt Schnell vs. David Dvorak
• Hakeem Dawodu vs. Lucas Almeida
• Aimeann Zahabi vs. Aoriqileng
• Chris Dauakus vs. Khalil Rountree
• Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt

Who do you think will win at UFC 289, Amanda Nunes or Irene Aldana?