- Julianna Pena didn’t mince her words in talking about Amanda Nunes in a recent UFC event
- “The Venezuelan Vixen” claims she put “Lioness” back into the fold
Now former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena did not shy away from admitting she wants Amanda Nunes to beat Irene Aldana at UFC 289 just so they can continue their rivalry. “The Venezuelan Vixen” also claims her title fight win has been beneficial for “Lioness” as well.
Julianna would root for Amanda for the trilogy
During a UFC Q&A with fans event in Vancouver, Pena blatantly reveal her thoughts on the upcoming Nunes vs. Aldana fight and the Brazilian saying she could dominate her anytime.
“Irene better not harm one hair on that girl’s head because I want my trilogy, that’s all I have to say about that,” Pena quipped.
“It cracks me up, honestly,” Pena said of Nunes’ remarks. “I think I saw in a clip, she said, ‘I can kick her a** anytime I want.’ Except for the time that you couldn’t and that it really counted? So I really don’t know what she’s talking about. As far as I’m concerned, we’re 1-1 and I actually have a leg up on her because I was not stopped, I was not finished, I was never down and out. Like Rocky said, it’s not about how many times you get hit, it’s about how many times you get hit and keep coming forward.
For Pena, Nunes didn’t finish her and it’s the other way around. More importantly, “The Venezuelan Vixen” said she badly wants the trilogy fight to happen that she roots for Nunes to win.
“She did not stop me. I was able to stop her, I was able to put her in the hospital, and nobody else can say that. I said on Ariel[‘s The MMA Hour] that she was one foot out the door already and that she was already planning her retirement and going off into the sunset and not if I have my way. Absolutely not. I’m not done with her. This is unfinished business.”
“I’m actually here to make sure that from 9 to 10 pm tomorrow on Saturday, only from 9 to 10 pm on Saturday, not 10:01, I will be rooting for Amanda Nunes,” she added. “I will be her one biggest fan in the world, and after that you’re gonna see the biggest turncoat you’ve ever seen.”
The bigger star
Pena further pointed out that Nunes should consider a third fight with her because numbers-wise, “Lioness” hasn’t been generating a lot and she only regained relevance after she lost in their rematch.
“Yes, she has been dominating and I would never want to take away from what she has accomplished in the sport but Ronda [Rousey] had such a massive following. She was main-eventing everything. And then if you go to Amanda’s last seven fights, she’s only main-evented twice,” Pena argued.
“One of them was because of an injury… the second one was me, and this third one was going to be me but I had to fall out due to injury myself. Me beating her made her relevant again because she hasn’t had the ability to main event in any of her title fights. In the last seven, literally only two main events. If you look at the Countdown numbers, if you look at the Embedded numbers, I mean, the co-main event has seven times more views than Amanda’s and she’s the main event. So she can’t draw flies. I’m just saying,” she added.
Nunes vs. Pena 3 was supposed to headline UFC 289 but “The Venezuelan Vixen” was forced to pull out due to injury. On the other hand, Nunes previously said Aldana is a tougher opponent than Pena and she is excited to face a new opponent.
