Amanda Nunes claims she had to power through injuries in both her knees going into her title fight with Julianna Pena.
On Dec. 11, 2021, Pena shocked the MMA world. She challenged Nunes for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Nunes had looked unstoppable up to this point and hadn’t lost a fight since 2014.
The streak was snapped after Pena secured a rear-naked choke in the second round to force the tap. It was a massive upset victory but some walked away feeling that Nunes had an off night.
Injuries To Blame?
During an interview with ESPN, Amanda Nunes claimed that her last fight camp couldn’t get any worse. On top of that, she had to endure pain in both of her knees.
“The whole camp for this fight, of course it was a mess,” Nunes told ESPN. “I always want to put in my head, ‘It’s OK. I can do this.’ [Fighters] are like that, we want to go through whatever to step in that cage. The first fight fell through after I got COVID, and then I went through a couple issues. I wasn’t able to show up to the gym every day at 100 percent, but I didn’t want to let that fight go again.
“I couldn’t do much jiu-jitsu, wrestling,” Nunes said. “I felt it in my warmup [on fight night]. My body and especially my arms. Everything in that camp was arms. I was only doing boxing. Everything I only did upper body. When I was warming up I was like, ‘That’s not how my body is.’ I’ve been in this game a long time. Five years with the belt, five years without. My body has never felt like that.”
Nunes and Pena will serve as coaches on season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter. At some point this year, the two will mix it up again in a title rematch.
