- Teddy Atlas said Julianna Pena should’ve feinted in order to avoid eating up all of Amanda Nunes’ punches
- The veteran boxing trainer stressed that someone from Pena’s corner should’ve noticed it
Contrary to what was expected, UFC 277’s main event was no back and forth and more of a lopsided bout with Amanda Nunes getting the better of Julianna Pena the entire fight. Some believed that the Brazilian came in more prepared while others say “Lioness” was just way ahead of Pena.
CHAMP CHAMP ONCE AGAIN! 👑👑
[ @Amanda_Leoa | #UFC277 ] pic.twitter.com/2nK2tb7xk0
— UFC (@ufc) July 31, 2022
However, renowned boxing trainer Teddy Atlas reckoned both fighters were commendable but “The Venezuelan Vixen” failed to do one thing that could’ve changed her fate.
The feint
According to Atlas, he kept on pointing out the entire night that Pena should “feint” or do something to derail Nunes from landing those devastating hooks.
“I tweeted during the night… that it was obvious to me that Pena needs to knock on the front door and either come in the side door or at least feint,” Atlas said on his podcast. “She’s coming in and get that counter hook out of the freaking way and then come in. But she didn’t. She just kept coming in and she came into that hook and she was getting caught with that. And during the course of the night she got dropped several times.”
Peña needs to feint first to draw out Nunes counter before coming in. Nunes fighting brilliantly #UFC277
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) July 31, 2022
No one figured it out
Unfortunately, Atlas stressed that no one from the now-former women’s bantamweight champ’s corner was able to figure that out.
“That was the first thing that struck me from a trainer’s perspective… Why is she not feinting?,” he wondered. “Someone’s gotta whisper in her ear or even screaming in her ear ‘you gotta give a little feint, give rid of that hook and come in clean.’ You can’t just keep walking on that front door, into the barrage of punches and a barrage of right hooks.”
Indeed, Nunes’ combinations hurt Pena and it her battered face needed no further explanation. As things stand, Pena wants a rubber match once healed up while Nunes has now regained her champ-champ status. She is yet to provide a concrete plan for her next move though so let’s just wait and see.
