Exclusive: Julianna Pena may not have completely fumbled the bag with 'cringy' Amanda Nunes trash-talk, says Maycee Barber
Julianna Pena ruffled many feathers after her animated reaction to Amanda Nunes announcing her retirement at UFC 289 went viral. While UFC women's flyweight contender Maycee Barber agrees with the consensus of Pena's reaction being cringeworthy, she recently claimed that it might end up benefiting 'The Venezuelan Vixen' in the future.
For context, Pena and Nunes were slated to fight for a third time at UFC 289 in Vancouver. However, an injury forced Pena to withdraw and was replaced by Irene Aldana. Nunes won the bout and announced her retirement during the post-fight octagon interview. Julianna Pena, sitting cage-side, couldn't help reacting furiously to her rival's announcement.
Julianna Peña reacts to Amanda Nunes retiring. Do you guys think Amanda owed her the trilogy fight? What do you guys think? #ufc289 #ufc https://t.co/ZgmbbdhwYv
While many opined that Pena's reaction was uncalled for and "cringy," Maycee Barber recently shared a different perspective. In an exclusive interview with James Lynch for Sportskeeda MMA, Barber shared her thoughts on Pena's viral cage-side reaction and said:
"To me. it's stupid... It was probably one of the most cringy things I've ever seen... I really believe Julianna got off easy with Amanda retiring. Now she has the best chance of being champ again."
Barber continued to explain why Pena's reaction might benefit her, saying:
"She's got people talking about her. So whether it's positive or negative, she's got it going on. So, I do respect that aspect."
Catch Barber's comments below (2:30):
Julianna Pena claims Amanda Nunes rematch at UFC 277 was much closer than what she got credit for
Julianna Pena recently claimed that her second fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 wasn't reflected accurately by the judges' scorecards.
'The Venezuelan Vixen' shocked the MMA world by defeating 'The Lioness' in a women's bantamweight title fight at UFC 269 via an upset second-round submission. However, in their rematch at UFC 277, Nunes reclaimed her title by dominantly beating Pena via unanimous decision.
Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña embraced after their five-round battle at #UFC277 https://t.co/Ia8tvtG3pz
After the judges scored their second fight heavily in favor of Amanda Nunes, Julianna Pena promptly called for a trilogy bout. However, Nunes chose to retire after her UFC 289 fight, which was originally slated to be against Pena.
In an interview on ESPN's SportsCenter, Julianna Pena expressed her outrage at the judges' scorecards and tried to justify her call for a trilogy bout. She said:
"I’ll always want to fight her if she decides to return, absolutely... What I would encourage fans to do is go back and watch that [second] fight... Without the commentary or anything... You’ll see that it was a lot closer than people want to give me credit for... I think the biggest thing for me is we are 1-1."
Watch the full video below: