Julianna Peña is looking to resolve her rivalry with Amanda Nunes, which she hopes will happen before the end of the year.
Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) dominated her surprising UFC women’s bantamweight title by a unanimous decision a week ago by Nunes (22-5 MMA, 15-2 UFC). UFC 277 Main Event.
The fight was a rematch of Pena’s huge upset against Nunes at UFC 269 in December, where she stunned the world with a second-round submission to the throne. However, the rematch was an entirely different fight, with most of Nunes’ success coming from changing to a southpaw stance, where she knocked down multiple times.
Peña admitted she was caught off guard by the approach, but said it couldn’t happen again in a sure-footed rubber race.
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“When someone completely changes and completely changes their entire stance, their entire fighting style because of me, I think it’s a complement, you know?” Peña said on Saturday’s UFC ESPN 40 post-fight show said in. “And I think if you give me time to get ready for both of Amanda’s poses, she won’t touch me next time. I really hope she heals and she can get back there by the end of the year because I absolutely Will be ready for that trilogy battle.”
Peña and Nunes both absorbed a lot of facial damage during the 25-minute fight. A week later, Peña was still wearing it as she attended the UFC on ESPN 40 to watch the “Ultimate Fighter 30” finale. She was there to support the athletes after coaching the reality show opposite Nunes before the game, but she made sure to point out that she was the only coach there.
“I’m ready for round 8 now, let’s get started. Here I am, where are you Amanda? Amanda, seriously, where are you?” Peña said. “You let your girl hang out. I’m on Peña, she’s not on Nunes. Here I am, I’m ready for round 8.”
