Julianna Pena picked up the biggest win of her UFC career on Saturday, beating Cat Zingano in the featured UFC 200 prelim fight at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas.
Pena took Zingano the distance and earned a unanimous decision with scores of 29-28 across the judges’ panel.
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Zingano secured two early takedowns to open the fight. Later Pena score a takedown of her own, but Zingano found a way to make it back to top position. The first round ended with the two returning to the feet and trading strikes.
In the second, Zingano rushed in and secured a hip-toss to get Pena down again. After returning to the feet, Zingano executed an impressive belly-to-belly suplex, but ultimately lost the advantageous position and Pena worked from the back. Through the end of the round, Pena worked to sink in the rear-naked choke but was unable to fully apply it before time expired.
The final round began with Pena securing a trip takedown. From there she tirelessly worked for another rear-naked choke for almost the entirety of the round. Zingano reversed position seconds before the final horn, but it was too little too late.
With the win, Pena picks up her fourth victory in a row and improves to 8-2.
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