Julianna Peña believes Amanda Nunes is waiting for a loss to Kayla Harrison so Nunes doesnât have to fight again before coming out of retirement.
âThey (UFC) say she wants to fight the winner of you vs. Kayla, so sheâll be back, but sheâs waiting to compete⊠pic.twitter.com/XpRRQKqD7f
â Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
October 14, 2024
Juliana Pena wants a trilogy showdown and continues to score the equalizer against Amanda Nunes.
Pena won the bantamweight title with a shocking upset submission victory over Nunes in their first fight at UFC 269. Nunes regained the title the following year in a rematch at UFC 277 with a unanimous decision favoring Pena. The two were scheduled to meet in a rubber match at UFC 289 in 2023, but Pena was forced to withdraw due to injury. Nunes hung up her gloves after defeating suddenly replaced Irene Aldana by unanimous decision.
While recovering from injury, Pena has consistently tried to bring Nunes out of retirement in hopes of a trilogy matchup. Meanwhile, Raquel Pennington won the vacant title by defeating Maira Bueno Silva by unanimous decision at UFC 297 in January of this year. Pena won the gold medal against âRockyâ at UFC 307 on October 5th, with the âVenezuela Vixenâ dethroning Pennington in a controversial split decision. Pennington defeated Pena on the scorecards. Verdict MMAis a popular voting site.
Meanwhile, in the title eliminator at UFC 307, top contender Kayla Hallision defeated Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision. However, Peña has insisted on a potential trilogy matchup with Nunes rather than fighting the two-time Olympic gold medalist. The bantamweight champion now claims he has been told Nunes is willing to come out of retirement to fight the winner of a potential matchup with Harrison. But Pena believes Nunes wants to beat Harrison. Pena said Nunes realized after two outings that no amount of money was worth the potential damage a trilogy could do.
âWhen they call me, they say, âShe is.â [Nunes] I want to play against the winner of you and Kayla. [Harrison]. âAnd she will come back, but waiting to fight the winner,â Pena told Ariel Helwani. âSo she thinks Iâm going to lose to Kayla. And if I beat Kayla, sheâs going to say, âI stay retired.â But if Kayla wins, sheâll come out of retirement looking like a hero⊠She feels like she has nothing to prove to me. And I feel like she hates Kayla more than she wants to prove anything and fight me for the trilogy.
âIn the first battle I took her pride, and in the second I took her soul. And she came out of there with a terrible elephant on half her face, on crutches and in a wheelchair. She knows itâs not going to be a walk in the park or an easy night at the office⊠The amount of money they paid her is what she endured in this fight. Itâs not worth the amount of damage it will have to do. And she knows it.â
