VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Amanda Nunes doesn’t see Julianna Pena becoming the next heir to her throne.
Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) retired after retaining her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) this past Saturday in the UFC 289 main event at Rogers Arena.
Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who was originally scheduled to face Nunes before withdrawing due to a rib injury, accused Nunes of running away from their trilogy bout by retiring – and “The Lioness” could only laugh at that statement.
“Oh my goodness, what can I say about that girl?” Nunes told reporters at the UFC 289 post-fight press conference. “She’s supposed to be here. I’m supposed to beat her tonight again. She’s the one that doesn’t know how to train, break the ribs, what am I going to do?
“If it was Julianna Peña tonight, I don’t retire because I want to fight somebody that I never fought before to retire. Tonight, it wouldn’t have been the night. I would have beat Julianna and then fight Aldana or whatever and then retire.”
With Nunes opting to hang up her gloves, the UFC bantamweight title is now vacant. Peña is the only woman to beat Nunes during her dominant title reign, but Nunes doesn’t see her recapturing gold. Nunes dominated Peña when they immediately rematched at UFC 277 to reclaim her bantamweight title.
“No,” Nunes said on Peña becoming champion. “I don’t think so. I think Aldana can beat her. I feel like she (Peña) got lucky in that fight against me. She knows I wasn’t ready, but I proved it in the second fight and I don’t think she’s going to be a champion. She’s not ready. She’s not ready to be a champion.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
