Julianna Pena is about to see a lot more of Amanda Nunes.
The UFC bantamweight champion announced Friday during an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show that she and Nunes will coach opposite one another on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter 30, and then meet in a rematch later this year.
Pena and Nunes were first reported to be the front-runners to serve as TUF 30 coaches by Ariel Helwani.
A date for the rematch has not been set, but MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin confirmed with Pena’s management that filming for TUF 30 will begin in February. A roster of fighters competing on the show is still to be announced.
Pena & Nunes — Number. 1 and No. 2 at 135 pounds in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, respectively — will become just the third pair of women to coach the show after Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate (TUF 18) and Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha (TUF 23).
TUF was back on the air after three years. The season featured coaches Brian Ortega and Alexander Volkanovski.
When Pena and Nunes meet again, it will be the rematch of their spectacular encounter at UFC 269 in December. This was where Pena pulled off one of combat sports’ greatest upsets with an impressive second-round submission against Nunes. The loss snapped an eight-year, 12-fight win streak for Nunes and was her first loss in six bantamweight title defenses.
