Juliana Peña feels that the rivalry between herself and Amanda Nunes is far from over. Peña feels that Nunes has been “dodging” her, and has called Amanda out of retirement for a trilogy fight. This would finally put things to bed for Peña, and settle their 1-1 tie.
Juliana Peña calls Amanda Nunes Out of Retirement to Settle Rivalry
Peña, who just returned to the octagon after a two-year hiatus, recaptured the women’s Bantamweight championship title from Raquel Pennington at UFC 307. Juliana believes that regaining the title may motivate Amanda to return to the UFC to settle the score.
“When I saw Amanda retire that day, I was sitting cageside, and I was booing because I didn’t believe she was truly done,” Peña said at the UFC 307 post-fight interview. “You hear Dana White saying that he thinks she retired too early, and then you watch her and I think she’s just twiddling her thumbs and saying, ‘What am I doing? I’m bored. Who am I if I’m not fighting in the UFC?’”
Peña even went as far as to say that Amanda misses the sport and is only “twiddling her thumbs” outside of the octagon, not knowing what to do with herself.
“There’s an air that I feel that she’s missing this sport and trying to find something to make her want to come back. … I truly do not believe she’s done. She retired too early. I think that she’s looking for something to do.”
Hint’s of a Return?
Nunes hinted at a UFC return after Raquel Pennington’s January 2024 win but didn’t want to leave her wife alone with their children. Amanda acknowledges, though, that she is still “young [and] fresh” and will have to “see what happens.”
This leaves high hopes that Juliana may indeed get her wish. A fight that she believes would be the biggest fight in women’s MMA history. “That, to me, is the biggest fight in women’s mixed martial arts history because we’re 1-1,” Peña said. “My fight against her was so dominant, I made her tap. Our second time, I ran out of time. I lost a decision handily – fine. No problem. But it would be nice to put it to bed once and for all and get that trilogy fight that she ran away from.”
Peña mentioned that if Nunes doesn’t return for a trilogy, she would defend her title against rising star Kayla Harrison. Harrison, who fought on the same card at UFC 307, has been defeating strong opponents, including Ketlen Viera by unanimous decision.
Peña continues to throw jabs at Nunes even when discussing other potential fights. “If Amanda cowers away and doesn’t come back and fight me, then yes, you’re absolutely right: Kayla brings a lot of eyeballs and attention to the sport, and I love that.”
Juliana’s grudge and desire to settle the score may be fuelling her to stay at the top. Only time will tell if we get to close the book on this bitter rivalry.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
