Tag: Julianna Pena

Julianna Peña has reacted to the news of Amanda Nunes leaving her long-time gym of American Top Team following UFC 269.

At UFC 269, Julianna Peña left many jaws dropped when she upset Amanda Nunes to become the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Given the hubris Nunes’ backers had in their prediction that Peña would be another lamb for the GOAT’s slaughter, many were left seeking answers for what had transpired in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada after Peña broke Nunes in the second round.

For Nunes’ part, she hasn’t said much about her post-fight reflections. She has expressed interest in an immediate rematch against Peña and let it be known that she just needed a little time to put everything back in order before returning “better than ever.”

Monday, we learned that part of that process will be creating her own team down in Florida after exiting American Top Team. Nunes had been a part of ATT since 2014, with her loss to Peña being her only stumble in the ATT era of her career.

While it is merely speculative without hearing it from Nunes herself, it stands to reason that her loss to Peña was at least one major reason behind this career-altering decision.

Julianna Pena Reacts To Amanda Nunes Exiting American Top Team

So how did Peña react to this news? As it turns out, it wasn’t much of a reaction at all when the topic was brought to her in a UFC 270 media day scrum.

“Yeah, what a zoo, huh?” Peña said as she took a sip of her cold beverage.

Peña was then asked if she had any additional thoughts on the matter, being that the post-ATT Nunes is expected to be her next opponent.

“Best of luck, you know?” Peña said with sustained nonchalance. “I just hope everything goes according to her plans and that we can get our fight booked. That’s all I care about.”

Peña is hopeful that the rematch between herself and Nunes takes place in the summer. When a reporter threw out the possibility of the fight taking place in Brazil in May, the new bantamweight champ hit him with the ol’ “No thanks.”

In any event, as long as the fight takes place sometime in the summer, it sounds as though Peña is carefree about where else the fight may take place or where Nunes will be training in the meantime.

Continue Reading Julianna Peña Reacts To Amanda Nunes Leaving ATT: “What A Zoo” at MMA News.

UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Julianna Peña believes she exposed Amanda Nunes in the UFC 269 co-main event last month.

Delusion, no chance, underdog, zero hope, inevitable loss. What do those words and terms have in common? They’re all along the lines of how most in the MMA community described Peña’s pre-fight confidence and chances of victory on December 11.

That didn’t affect the challenger. She knew something most didn’t. Her self-belief and predictions weren’t an attempt at motivating herself for an uphill battle. They were the truth. In her mind, the performance she delivered at UFC 269 wasn’t shocking; it wasn’t the greatest upset in UFC history,;it wasn’t an underdog triumph; it was as expected.

Despite that, for most fans and pundits, Peña’s seasonal submission success against the “Lioness”, which ended Nunes’ dominant reign over the 135-pound weight class, lengthy win streak, and seven-year unbeaten run, will go down in the history books as one of the biggest shocks the Octagon has ever played host to.

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Peña Doesn’t Think Nunes Underestimated Her

For many, whether fans of Nunes or adamant believers in the reigning featherweight titleholder’s superiority, the nature of the loss is up in the air. As well as claims the Brazilian quit after being taken to waters she hadn’t swum in since 2014, some have suggested the former bantamweight queen simply underestimated “The Venezuelan Vixen.”

For the new champ, the answers to that are: wrong and wrong.

Having already attempted to bust the myths surrounding her fight-winning choke, which she says was drilled in the training room prior to UFC 269, Peña has now denied the narrative that Nunes underestimated the threat she posed on December 11.

In reality, she believes the consensus female GOAT was simply exposed inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

“I think Amanda was prepared for the best version of Julianna that she was gonna see. She was ready,” Peña told the New York Post. “I said six months prior to the fight exactly what I was gonna do. I exposed her and I even gave her the message prior to the fight that that’s what I was gonna do. She didn’t underestimate me at all. She trained her ass off and was adamant, in her mind, to win the fight no matter what. She just got exposed, and that’s kind of what it was.”

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While the discussion around her championship-winning performance is likely to continue given the way she toppled the “Lioness” of the top step, Peña will seemingly have the chance to further legitimize her place on the bantamweight throne in an immediate rematch later this year.

After UFC President Dana White revealed the former champ would be offered a quick chance for redemption, Nunes wasted no time in accepting and promising resurrection in 2022.

Do you agree with Julianna Peña? Did she expose Amanda Nunes at UFC 269?

Continue Reading Julianna Peña: Amanda Nunes Got “Exposed” At UFC 269 at MMA News.