UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes will defend her bantamweight title at UFC 265 against Julianna Pena. After Amanda’s last title defense against Megan Anderson, Pena chomped at the bit on social media to get the match.
Amanda Nunes completely dominated Megan Anderson during their featherweight title fight at UFC 259. It only took The Lioness 2 minutes to dismantle Anderson. Amanda cracked Megan on the feet to a wobbled state, then took her back and quickly submitted her.
Commentators and fans across the globe wondered what could be next for “The Lioness” as she’s seemingly accomplished everything in the sport. However, Julianna Pena mentioned wanting a crack at Nunes now that her scheduled bout against Holly Holm is off due to injury.
Nunes vs. Pena
During the UFC 259 broadcast, Pena tweeted that an injury canceled her match against Holm. At the moment, it’s unknown how Holm sustained the injury. Nonetheless, Pena turned her attention to the bantamweight champion.
Double champ Amanda Nunes will defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Peña at UFC 265, Dana White told @bokamotoESPN.
The event does not yet have an official date or location, but Aug. 7 is the target date. pic.twitter.com/Rp2iy39nm6
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 15, 2021
Willing the Fight to Existence
UFC President Dana White said that the fight between Pena and Nunes was a possibility after the number of times Julianna texted him after UFC 529.
“Julianna Pena has been texting all of us all night,” White said. “She’s been busy tonight. Yeah, we could do that,” finished Dana in the post-fight press conference.”
Pena stated that she believes Nunes wouldn’t take a fight against her, inclining that she was afraid of the challenge.
“Because she knows that stylistically I’m the worst matchup for her,” Pena responded to Ariel Helwani. “Do you remember — let’s go back, do you remember when she fought Cat Zingano? What happened in that fight? She lost. She curled up in the fetal position and the referee had to freaking pull Cat off of her.
Now that Pena has willed himself into a title fight, what are her chances of victory against one of the greatest MMA fighters ever?
