Julianna Pena thinks Amanda Nunes is afraid to stand with her.
After Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) pulled a stunning upset to dethrone Nunes (22-5 MMA, 15-2 UFC) by submission at UFC 269, Nunes reclaimed the bantamweight title in their rematch at UFC 277 with a dominant decision.
With their series tied 1-1, Peña and Nunes will square off in a trilogy to headline UFC 289 on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Peña showed heart in their second fight, but Nunes’ southpaw stance allowed her to find plenty of success on the feet, where she recorded three knockdowns. Nunes also landed six takedowns, and Peña thinks “The Lioness” took the fight to the mat for a reason.
“I definitely think that you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and I outsmarted her the first time, she outsmarted me the second time,” Peña said on The MMA Hour. “But the reality is, is that there will be no more surprises, especially because we’ve shared 35 minutes inside the octagon together. I will be ready for Amanda whether she comes out southpaw, whether she comes out orthodox, whether she comes out on her head walking on her hands. I will be ready and I will have an answer for her every way.
“The surprises are gone. There’s no more surprises, and she’s going to have to fight me. I turned the greatest striker of all time into a wrestler who wanted to lay and pray on me because she didn’t want anything to do with me on the feet. She knows that if we’re going toe-to-toe and standing in the pocket that she’s going to lose that every single time, and I’ve got my money with me winning that fight every single time. But she was more strategic than me (in the rematch) – I give her that credit, absolutely. And then we’re going to go take it back June 10 to see who the real champion is, and it’s going to be me.”
Nunes said she’s OK with facing Peña again, but expected Irene Aldana to be next. According to Peña, though, the dual-champion wanted to be part of the trilogy bout.
“The brass told me directly she does not want to fight me,” Peña said.
“They said if she didn’t fight against me that she would be stripped (of the title), so she had no choice but to fight me. She doesn’t want to fight me. They told me she doesn’t want to fight me, and she’s being forced to fight me because this is the only fight that makes sense.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
