UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña thinks that Amanda Nunes hasn’t fully accepted her submission loss from UFC 269.
Fresh off coaching The Ultimate Fighter Season 30, Peña did an interview with MMA Mania and discussed her upcoming rematch with the current UFC women’s featherweight champion. While the 32-year-old acknowledged that she’s expecting “the best Amanda Nunes we’ve ever seen” in July, Peña isn’t impressed with how Nunes has handled the result of their first fight.
“It’s offensive. She literally doesn’t believe that it happened,” Peña said. “She doesn’t want to admit that it happened. She wants to make every single excuse that she can so that she can tell herself and sleep at night, that that’s not the reality of what happened. So it can get her up in the morning, so that she can go and perform the next time and the next go around. So, she doesn’t believe that it happened. She’s not accepting it.”
“The Venezuelan Vixen” upset Nunes at UFC 269 to claim the women’s bantamweight title. While Nunes remained a UFC champion due to her also holding the women’s featherweight belt, the loss was notable given that the Brazilian was considered the top pound-for-pound female fighter in the sport.
Whatever Nunes may think about their first fight, Peña knows she backed up her own words in that bout and fully intends to do the same in the rematch.
“It’s offensive because I did everything that I said I was gonna do. I said I was gonna do this, and then I went out and I did it and you’re still not accepting it. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, this belt is mine. So come and get it. You want this? You want me to drop my swords? Come and take ‘em. I’m ready.”
Peña will defend her bantamweight title for the first time against Nunes in the main event of UFC 277.
What do you think of Peña’s claim that Nunes is in denial about the result of their first fight?