"She's not that hungry savage she was" - Dana White believes Amanda Nunes' success potentially hindered her performances in the octagon
Amanda Nunes is set to try and win back her women's bantamweight belt from Julianna Pena at UFC 277, but Dana White questions whether she still has 'The Lioness' inside her to do it.
Nunes dropped the belt to Pena in December 2021 after a complete collapse in the second round of their fight. While the former double champ attributed the loss to injuries she carried into the cage, UFC president Dana White wonders whether she's still hungry enough to claw back the title.
In a new interview with ESPN, White said:
"The question is, for Amanda, and this is what happens to all fighters. You know the big narrative that we don't pay anybody. Amanda's rich. Amanda is a multi-millionaire who is now at a completely different financial status. She has a baby now. Her life, she is not that hungry savage she was when she started to take this run at becoming a world champion. A lot of that factors in."
"And now Julianna's in a place where she beat her, Julianna's starting to see a lot of the things that come along with being the world champion now. Financially, popularity as you get out in the world. That belt is the key that opens a lot of doors. So I'm sure she wants to get to that Amanda Nunes level financially and everything else. All of that stuff factors into the fight, and those are all questions I can't answer."
Watch the full ESPN interview with Dana White below:
Amanda Nunes reveals injuries she fought with against Julianna Pena
Amanda Nunes' loss to Julianna Pena was quite the shock given Nunes' twelve-fight win streak over six years. While fans shouldn't discount Pena's aggressive willingness to swarm 'The Lioness' the moment she felt the tide of the fight turn, what happened to Nunes was still a big question.
What a baffling game plan from Amanda Nunes in the second round.
She didn’t respect Julianna Pena’s power at all, kept thinking she would KO her in these wild exchanges. Gassed herself and Pena took advantage. Shocked. #UFC269 https://t.co/9d9b4fBX2Q
Months after the loss, Nunes finally opened up about the issues she faced coming into the fight. She told ESPN:
"Both knees was, like, pretty bad and I wasn't able to recover. Every time that I training, [I went] back home, and the next day I couldn't even walk. I needed rest. I couldn't turn, do all the things that I have to do, like do jiu jitsu that much, wrestling. Pretty much, I was doing only hands, like striking or whatever I going to do for conditioning, I used only my arms. So that cost me my belt."
Watch Amanda Nunes discuss the loss with ESPN below: