Julianna Pena had to restrain herself while watching Amanda Nunes retire at UFC 289.
Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) called it a career after retaining her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana in this past Saturday’s headliner at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who was Nunes’ original opponent before withdrawing due to a rib injury, was in attendance for the fight. But instead of facing off with Nunes to set up their trilogy bout, she watched Nunes announce her retirement.
Peña was disappointed but not too surprised with how things unfolded.
“First off, you need to call me ‘Mystic Peña,’ because I have special powers,” Peña said on “The MMA Hour.” “I told you back then in April that she was one foot out the door, and she was going to retire. Low and behold, ‘Mystic Peña’ strikes again.”
Peña admits she had to fight off the urge to spoil Nunes’ retirement announcement. With the bantamweight title now vacant, Peña is ready to reclaim her title – even if it won’t be against Nunes.
“There was a part of me that really wanted to storm the cage,” Peña said. “I had so many people that were like, ‘Yes, we’ll do it,. We’ll throw you over the gate.’ But then my coach Wayne was like, ‘Don’t do it. Be classy and don’t do it.’ And so I let her have my moment. But it was really difficult for me, because there were so many times where my urge was to go. Like, ‘Now’s the time, go, go, go. Now’s the time.’
“But, you know, at the end of the day, she’s retired, she’s off into the sunset. She’s dead to me at this point. We’ve just got to keep the division moving. Now we’re stepping into Day 1 of the ‘Peña Power’ era. I’m the synthetic champ. I’ve always been champ in my heart and in my head all the time. I wake up every day being like, ‘Good morning, champ. You look good.’ So it’s just a matter of time before the belt’s around my waist again.”
Peña dethroned Nunes with a shocking submission upset at UFC 269. She lost her title by lopsided decision when the pair rematched at UFC 277.
Even thought their series is tied 1-1 and now will always remain that way, the score is already settled for Peña.
“As far as I’m concerned, I still have a one-up on her,” Peña said. “She didn’t finish me. I was literally coming at her the entire time. I ran out of time. Brass tacks, when it all comes down to things when she was supposed to be the greatest of all time, she tapped.
“She was asking for help to get out of there. A finish is better than a scorecard. She couldn’t finish me. I’m not gonna have a thorn on my side because as far as I’m concerned, I still have a win over her. If we’re in the streets, she’s dead. She already died.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
