"You could visibly see how uncomfortable she was"- Julianna Peña comments on Amanda Nunes' reaction to claims of Kayla Harrison being ATT team captain
UFC women's bantamweight champion Julianna Peña recently commented on the relationship between former teammates Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison. She opened up about the time Nunes was shocked to hear journalists referring to Harrison as the team captain at their gym American Top Team.
While in conversation with Ariel Helwani on the latest edition of The MMA Hour, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' recalled a media interaction before her UFC 269 clash against Nunes.
During the exchange, 'The Lioness' was asked to react to the fact that Harrison had seemingly been branded the team captain at ATT. Nunes, who was taken aback by the question, argued that she was the team captain.
Discussing the Brazilian's reaction, Peña said:
"I can tell you during fight week, I saw one of her interviews during fight week, it was a few days before our fight and they were like, 'Hey, [Amanda Nunes], how do you feel about the fact that Kayla Harrison's the team captain?' And she was like, 'What?' It was like news to her and you could tell how, like, visibly uncomfortable she was from the question and she was like, 'She's not team captain. I'm team captain.' That's right, you know what I mean?"
Catch Julianna Peña's interaction with Ariel Helwani below:
Julianna Peña reveals why her nickname is a curse
In the same interaction with Ariel Helwani, Julianna Peña opened up about the flak that she receives for her moniker, 'The Venezuelan Vixen'.
An American by birth and a Venezuelan through familial ties, the bantamweight queen says she is hated on by fans for referring to herself as 'The Venezuelan Vixen'.
"A blessing and a curse. Because I'm paying homage to my roots. My dad's from Venezuela. Curse because everyone is like since I'm not born and physically in the country they give you cr*p that they don't think I'm 'The Venezuelan Vixen' because I'm not born in Venezuela, you know. So I get a lot of crap for that, 'You're not a real Venezuelan.' You know? So it's whatever."
Julianna Peña last featured inside the octagon in a championship fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. She captured the women's bantamweight championship with a second-round submission via rear-naked choke.