UFC 289 Odds, Props, Predictions: Nunes vs. Aldana for Women’s Bantamweight Title in Canada

The trilogy between Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena is postponed for now. 

Instead, Nunes will face brand-new challenger Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in Vancouver, CA on June 10.

Check out the odds and props below.

UFC 289 Main Event Odds: Nunes vs. Aldana

The sportsbooks have spoken and the champ champ is the moderate favorite at around -315.

The underdog, Irene Aldana, comes in at around +260 in most of the books.

UFC 289 Co-Main Event Odds: Oliveira vs. Dariush

Some MMA fans might call this matchup UFC 289’s People’s Main Event.

This fight was supposed to happen at UFC 288 but was pushed back due to an injury for Oliveira.

Many fans love Charles Oliveira and many fans also think Beneil Dariush has continually been given the short end of the stick in the lightweight division so this is an exciting matchup for both fighters and fans alike.

The former lightweight champ Oliveira is the slight underdog at +100, making Dariush the favorite at -120 in what is likely to be a high-level grappling match.

UFC 289 Betting Preview: Nunes vs. Aldana

The Lioness Looks To Keep Roaring On

Amanda Nunes (22-5 MMA, 15-2 UFC) is considered one of the greatest. After a slight hiccup in her first fight against Pena, she restored order to her Bantamweight empire in the rematch, outclassing her to a unanimous decision victory.

So with the two top bantamweights at 1-1, the trilogy was set for the UFC’s first return to Canada since 2019. But on Tuesday night this week, Pena pulled out due to injury. So the show must go on. 

Before her loss in the first bout against Pena, Nunes was on an absolute tear through two divisions as the champ-champ of the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. 

As she was riding a 12-fight win streak, she notched victories over Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Valentina Shevchenko (twice), Cris Cyborg, Megan Anderson, Felicia Spencer, Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie, and others. Eight of those wins were by finish as well. 

The only weakness seen in Nunes in the past few years was that she just seemed ‘off’ during the first fight with Pena. She was moving slower and just looked like she wasn’t feeling it that night. She said leading up to that fight, she was getting over COVID-19 and that her camp was the worst she ever had. 

The second fight showed that to be true. Almost with enough certainty that fans hadn’t seemed too excited for a final trilogy bout between the two.

But of course, we’re not getting that fight in the near future anyways.

Aldana Wants To Set the Division On Fire

With Pena out, enter Irene Aldana (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC).

The No. 5-ranked Bantamweight is coming off back-to-back finishes against other highly-ranked contenders. 

Her last bout was a KO kick over Macy Chiasson at UFC 279. Aldana landed her toes right on the liver of Chiasson in the third round, dropping her and ending the fight.

In the bout prior, Aldana finished Yana Kunitskaya with elbows in the first round at UFC 264.

It has been interesting watching Aldana slow down her career and improve exponentially over the past few years. She has only fought once per year in the last three years, but it seems to be paying off as she’s put on great performances in her last couple of bouts after a decision loss to Holm back in 2020.

The career resurgence was much needed after losing her first two UFC fights and ending up 5-3 at the end of 2019. But she was busy with four fights in 2019 where she went 3-1 that year before the loss to Holm. 

Nunes vs. Aldana may be a more intriguing matchup just because it’s new. Will Aldana be able to shake up the division with a win, or will Nunes just keep on rolling?

UFC 289 Props

Method of Victory (DraftKings)

• Nunes by KO/TKO: +100
• Nunes by submission: +500
• Nunes by decision: +300
• Aldana by KO/TKO: +650
• Aldana by submission: +1400
• Aldana by decision: +700

Total Rounds

• 2.5 (Over -130, Under +100 at DraftKings)

Alternate Total Rounds (DraftKings)

• Over 0.5 (-1200), Under 0.5 (+600)
• Over 1.5 (-245), Under 1.5 (+175)
• Over 3.5 (+120), Under 3.5 (-160)
• Over 4.5 (+160), Under 4.5 (-215)

Will Fight Go The Distance? (DraftKings)

• Yes: +180
• No: -250

How Fight Will End

• Submission: +380
• KO/TKO: -135
• Decision: +380

UFC 289 Main Card Odds

Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Amanda Nunes (-315) vs. Irene Aldana (+260)

Lightweight Bout: Charles Oliveira (+120) vs. Beneil Dariush (-140)

Welterweight Bout: Mike Malott (-205) vs. Adam Fugitt (+175)

Featherweight Bout: Dan Ige (-255) vs. Nate Landwehr (+215)

Middleweight Bout: Marc-Andre Barriault (-135) vs. Eryk Anders (+115)

UFC 289 Event Info

Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada

Date: Saturday, June 10, 2023

Start Time: Main at 10 p.m. ET

Where to Watch: ESPN+ PPV