Amanda Nunes admits that in the immediate aftermath of losing her bantamweight title to Julianna Pena, she seriously considered retirement.
Her 12-fight, six-year unbeaten streak had been broken, and there was certainly nothing left for her to prove after she had reigned as a simultaneous two-division UFC champion. In fact, Nunes had beaten every single woman who’d ever held UFC gold at either bantamweight or featherweight.
Then a harsh realization washed over Nunes like a cold bucket of water, and she immediately changed her mind.
“I decided to not retire, because if I retire, I leave my belt with Julianna,” Nunes said during UFC 289 media day. “No way. No way. It can be with somebody else, but with Julianna, no.”
The 2021 setback was a particularly difficult loss for Nunes, because she knew deep down inside that she was so much better than Pena. But she also had arguably one of the worst performances of her career, and it cost her the UFC title.
Nunes took some time to realize everything went wrong for her that night, and seemingly, the stars were perfectly aligned for Pena to get the win.
“I know I could kick her ass any time I want,” Nunes said. “She was supposed to win that day, I was supposed to make the mistakes that I made to fight without being in great shape, and I paid for it, and I’m never going to do that again. Ever, ever, ever.
“I was confused a little bit, but I got my foot in the floor, I got home, and everything was ready to go. My mindset was ready to get the belt back and never lose again.”
Nunes proved her point with a lopsided unanimous decision over Pena in a rematch, again making her the UFC bantamweight champ.
Nunes couldn’t stomach the idea that Pena thought she was the better fighter, which only furthered her desire to come back and avenge that prior defeat.
“She’s not that good,” Nunes said about Pena. “That was harder to swallow. She’s crazy. She goes forward and punches, and just being tough, and she has the belt. She can get hit. No. No way.
“I knew I’m going to go back there and get that belt again. The second fight, I knew I’m getting my belt back, and I did it.”
A trilogy was originally scheduled for UFC 289, but Pena suffered a rib injury that ultimately forced her off the card, and she was replaced by Irene Aldana.
If all goes well against Aldana on Saturday and Nunes successfully defends her title, there’s a good chance the UFC will want to book her against Pena again.
For what it’s worth, she welcomes that fight, but she really doesn’t see Pena offering a legitimate challenge ever again.
“I’ll fight her again after this, no problem at all,” Nunes said. “She makes me better. This is MMA. If she sticks with her style, I’m sorry, you’re going to be gone soon.
“I’m evolving all the time. Yeah, I can strike. I can wrestle you. My wrestling is better than yours. My ground is better than yours. If you attack anything, I can defend. I’m stronger. So I’m better than you everywhere. You’re gone.”
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