"I am on edge" - Julianna Pena wants to silence critics as she prepares to fight Amanda Nunes without a "list of a hundred reasons" to lose
Julianna Pena aims to silence her detractors by defeating MMA legend Amanda Nunes in their rematch. In December 2021, Pena faced then-UFC women’s featherweight and bantamweight champion Nunes for the bantamweight title.
The fight witnessed Pena shockingly defeat ‘The Lioness’ via second-round submission to capture the bantamweight belt. Presently, Pena is scheduled to defend her bantamweight title in a rematch against Nunes at UFC 277 on July 30th.
JULIANNA PEÑA SHOCKS THE WORLD AND SUBMITS AMANDA NUNES #UFC269 @SpinninBackfist
https://t.co/4PzN9YjJsP
Many in the MMA community, including Nunes herself, have maintained that she wasn’t at her best against Pena. Some have gone as far as to say that Pena's win was a fluke. In the UFC 277 Predictions video posted to the UFC’s YouTube channel, Pena has addressed the aforementioned criticism.
Speaking to her longtime teammate and UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa and retired MMA fighter Paul Felder, Pena lauded Nunes for her impressive resume. She highlighted that Nunes is regarded as the greatest of all-time. Pena noted that while she knows Nunes is dangerous, so is she. Promising to beat the best version of Nunes, Pena stated:
“I do listen to that [criticism], absolutely, because I need to be cautious at all times. And I am very aware that Amanda had a list of a hundred reasons why she lost to me. But now that those reasons are gone; now that we’re gonna see Amanda at the best condition, at the biggest, strongest, fastest, most explosive Amanda we’ve ever seen; I am on edge."
"And I am like, ready to go because I’m like a wild, wounded animal getting trapped into a corner, and this is my time that I have to lash out and be ready for anything and everything that comes my way.”
Watch Pena discuss the topic at 7:55 in the video below:
Amanda Nunes reveals what her wife told her before the first fight against Julianna Pena
Following her fight against Julianna Pena last December, Amanda Nunes cited knee injury issues and a subpar training camp among the reasons behind her loss. In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, ‘The Lioness’ praised her wife, UFC women’s strawweight mainstay Nina Nunes, for her invaluable support.
Amanda Nunes revealed that Nina Nunes was incredibly supportive of her as the former mulled over possibly pulling out of the Pena matchup due to health issues. Revealing what Nina Nunes had told her before the fight, ‘The Lioness’ said:
“I don't want to let the fight fall through, you know? And like, Nina was trying to tell me, like, ‘Listen, like, if we have to pull out in this fight, you know, to get to 100%, we can do that.’”
Watch Nunes’ interview below: