Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña did not hold back in her criticism of reigning champ Amanda Nunes’ retirement at UFC 289.
Nunes retired in the Octagon after successfully defending her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana. Pena, who is 1-1 against Nunes, appeared on The MMA Hour to blast her old foe for daring to retire on top.
Julianna Pena BLASTS “Coward” Nunes Over UFC Retirement
“There was a part of me that really wanted to storm the cage. I had so many people like, ‘Yes, we’ll do it, we’ll throw you over the gate!’ Then my coach was like, ‘Don’t do it.
Be classy and don’t do it.’ So I let her have my moment, but it was really difficult for me because there were so many times where my urge was to go, ‘Now is the time, go, go go.’
But at the end of the day, she’s retired, she’s off in the sunset, she’s dead to me at this point, and we’ve just got to keep the division moving. Now we’re stepping into day one of the ‘Peña Power’ era. I’m the champ, I’ve always been the champ in my heart and in my head.
So it’s just a matter of time before the belt’s around my waist again.” Julianna Peña did, in fairness, deliver one of MMA’s biggest ever upsets when she submitted Nunes at UFC 269. Nunes, however, responded in dramatic fashion, dominating Peña over the course of five rounds at UFC 277 in the immediate rematch.
The trilogy was supposed to be settled at UFC 289, but an unfortunate rib injury forced Peña out of the bout, and now the rivalry will never be resolved.
““I’ve been telling you from the beginning: She’s been wanting to retire, she was one foot out the door the entire time. She even said it herself, she was going to retire after she tapped to me, but she didn’t because she decided I’m too good-looking and she doesn’t want me to have the belt. Seriously, she’s got a problem with me.
At the end of the day, Amanda didn’t want the fight. The whole time the UFC tried asked her to make the trilogy, she didn’t want to make it, and they made that clear to me. They said, ‘She doesn’t want to fight you.’
That’s why it took so long to book the trilogy, and when I fell out because of injury, she said it was ‘less heavy’ for her. It’s less heavy for her because she knows what’s at risk.
She owes my training partner that win bonus because if I showed up on June 10, there’s no way she would have won and she wouldn’t be getting that money, period.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. All of this is completely irrelevant. What’s relevant now is that she’s gone. She’s dead to me. I don’t want anything to do with this girl now or for the foreseeable future.”
