Tag: Julianna Pena

Cris Cyborg Was “Not Surprised” Julianna Peña Upset Amanda Nunes

Despite many perceiving it to be the biggest upset in UFC history, Bellator champion Cris Cyborg wasn’t surprised to see Julianna Peña beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.

Closing the year in style at 2021’s final pay-per-view, Peña shocked the world insi…

Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes & Julianna Peña

Despite many perceiving it to be the biggest upset in UFC history, Bellator champion Cris Cyborg wasn’t surprised to see Julianna Peña beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.

Closing the year in style at 2021’s final pay-per-view, Peña shocked the world inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena by dethroning the “Lioness.” Ahead of the clash, not many were giving “The Venezuelan Vixen,” who entered the contest off the back of two wins and two losses in her previous four fights, much of a chance.

The general consensus was that Nunes, a dominant two-division champion who hadn’t lost since 2014, was on a 12-fight win streak and had beaten the likes of Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, and Holly Holm, would shut Peña’s confidence down in emphatic fashion.

Instead, the underdog took the fight to Nunes on the feet before taking the Brazilian down and submitting her in the second round. The debate over whether it’s surpassed upsets like Matt Serra’s win against Georges St-Pierre and Holm’s victory over Rousey will rage on, but it’s certainly up there with the most shocking moments in UFC history.

Cyborg Believes Peña Made Nunes “Quit”

But one person who was not at all surprised was former UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg. The Brazilian, who now competes under the promotional banner of Bellator MMA, knew Peña had what it takes and predicted an upset last weekend.

Speaking about the result in an interview with Combat Sports on Fanatics View, Cyborg explained why she expected “The Venezuelan Vixen” to get the job done on December 11, a feat that Cyborg failed to accomplish herself in 2018.

“You know, I was not surprised. I (picked) Julianna Peña because the five losses for Amanda Nunes, four were the same style as Julianna Peña. And before, we knew Amanda Nunes danger is in the beginning, in the first round. If you pass the first round with her, you can get in the fight. We knew this. Of course, when you fight her, you go fire to fire and that happens, you know, what happened.

Amanda Nunes Cris Cyborg
Image Credit: Christian Petersen/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

“We knew that when she goes past the first round, she sees she cannot finish you, so she’s either gonna run away or quit on the floor or something, and this is what happened for Julianna Peña.”

Despite praising the newly-crowned champ’s ability to bring the fight to Nunes and force her into a position she hadn’t been in since 2014, Cyborg also questioned the fight-ending sequence. According to the 36-year-old, Peña didn’t have a submission locked in when the “Lioness” tapped out. Echoing the thoughts of many, the Bellator featherweight titleholder believes Nunes “quit.”

“I don’t feel like Julianna did any sort of submission because she didn’t have a submission the way she finished the fight. I feel like Amanda Nunes, at one point, she sees she cannot finish, and Julianna Peña continued going forward and she tapped, but (Peña) didn’t have any submission… I don’t know what was passing through her mind in the second round ’cause when you’re gonna fight for the title, you’re ready for seven rounds, and that was the second.

“I feel like Julianna did very good jabs. In the second round, Amanda wanted to finish the fight, to KO her as fast as she can, but Julianna was keeping her on the jab. The jab really opened a lot of doors for Julianna. The reality is when they stopped the fight, I didn’t think they’d finished the fight because she didn’t have a submission there, and I didn’t see the tap, too… I believe Amanda, I don’t know what passed through her mind there, but I believe she quit at that time.”

With Nunes’ reign atop the bantamweight mountain now over, the debate over who is the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time has now been re-ignited.

While the consensus had been that Nunes’ form and prior victory over Cyborg had her ahead, a portion of the MMA community believes the elder Brazilian, whose setback against the “Lioness” is the only blemish on her record since her MMA debut loss in 2005, holds the GOAT title.

Do you agree with Cris Cyborg? Did Amanda Nunes quit at UFC 269?

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Khabib Uses Peña’s UFC 269 Upset As An Example Of WMMA’s Inferiority

Khabib Nurmagomedov has used Julianna Peña’s UFC 269 upset over Amanda Nunes to help explain why his Eagle FC promotion will not yet add female fighters.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion has been making big waves since the Dagestan native t…

Khabib, Amanda Nunes, Julianna Pena

Khabib Nurmagomedov has used Julianna Peña’s UFC 269 upset over Amanda Nunes to help explain why his Eagle FC promotion will not yet add female fighters.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion has been making big waves since the Dagestan native took over the helm last year. In addition to landing a deal with UFC Fight Pass, the promotion will now venture beyond Russia and into the United States, and it has also added a 165lb weight class, which has been long requested by many fighters, including Nate Diaz and new Eagle FC signee Kevin Lee.

One change that will not be made anytime soon is the addition of any women’s divisions. When asked about the prospect of women joining Eagle FC, Khabib used Julianna Peña’s victory over Amanda Nunes as an example of why WMMA is not quite caught up to the male competition level (h/t Sportskeeda).

“I am like, we can watch what Julianna Peña did with Amanda Nunes [at UFC 269 last weekend]. But Julianna Peña, she is not like the greatest or something like that. She just beat Amanda Nunes like [on the day]. We can watch not many good [female] fighters all around the world. There are only like five or six of them. And we will wait and see [if we can do anything about it],” said Khabib.

Khabib did leave the door open to adding women to the Eagle FC roster in the future, so his reasoning does not appear to be tied to any cultural beliefs based on the above remarks. Khabib’s frankness in answering this question should not come as much of a surprise to anyone who remembers his ring-girl remarks from earlier this year that caused quite the stir.

One of the people who took issue with Khabib saying ring girls are “useless” is UFC women’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko. And if Shevchenko was not a fan of those comments, it’s safe to say she won’t be digging these remarks from Khabib all too much, either. And the same can almost assuredly be said for the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Julianna Peña.

You can view Khabib’s comments for yourself in the video below.

What are your thoughts on Khabib’s comments on the state WMMA?

Continue Reading Khabib Uses Peña’s UFC 269 Upset As An Example Of WMMA’s Inferiority at MMA News.

Kayla Harrison: It Would Only Take Me One Arm To Beat Julianna Peña

Kayla Harrison doesn’t think Julianna Peña would fare well against her.

At UFC 269, Peña submitted Amanda Nunes to become the new bantamweight champion, and recently, she took a shot at Nunes’ training partner Harrison. She claimed the PFL champion…

Kayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison doesn’t think Julianna Peña would fare well against her.

At UFC 269, Peña submitted Amanda Nunes to become the new bantamweight champion, and recently, she took a shot at Nunes’ training partner Harrison. She claimed the PFL champion is a B-League fighter, which Harrison did not take kindly.

Although Harrison has not signed yet, she was asked about a potential fight against Peña after her comments. To no surprise, the two-time Olympic gold medalist believes she would beat Peña with ease.

“I think that Julianna, you know, congrats to her for her victory, I know she must be on cloud nine right now, and I would just caution her to be careful. You don’t say stuff like that to people like me unless you mean it,” Harrison said to TMZ Sports. “This isn’t like a ‘Conor McGregor, let’s just talk a little sh*t.’ Don’t bite off more than you can chew. And I have a lot of respect for her as well. She went out there and she executed a great game plan, and she did what she had to do. But I’m not the lesser of anything or anyone or anybody. When I come to fight, you’re gonna know you’re in a fight. Be careful what you say.

Kayla Harrison
Photo by Dave Mandel/Invicta FC

“I think it’s just dumb, too. She fights at 135, I fight at, right now, 155, so unless you’re willing to back it up, then don’t say stuff like that, you know, just don’t open that can of worms,” Harrison continued. “Don’t go there… Honestly, I’d probably have to chop off my arm to make 135. ’45, I can make, but I’d have to chop off an arm to make 135, and I think that it only would take me one arm to beat her.”

Even though Kayla Harrison and Julianna Peña are taking shots at one another, it’s unlikely they will ever fight each other. Harrison is not in the UFC yet, and she competes at featherweight and lightweight while Peña is a bantamweight and has even expressed interest in going to 125lbs.

What do you make of Kayla Harrison claiming she could beat Julianna Peña with one arm?

Continue Reading Kayla Harrison: It Would Only Take Me One Arm To Beat Julianna Peña at MMA News.

Kayla Harrison: It Would Only Take Me One Arm To Beat Julianna Peña

Kayla Harrison doesn’t think Julianna Peña would fare well against her.

At UFC 269, Peña submitted Amanda Nunes to become the new bantamweight champion, and recently, she took a shot at Nunes’ training partner Harrison. She claimed the PFL champion…

Kayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison doesn’t think Julianna Peña would fare well against her.

At UFC 269, Peña submitted Amanda Nunes to become the new bantamweight champion, and recently, she took a shot at Nunes’ training partner Harrison. She claimed the PFL champion is a B-League fighter, which Harrison did not take kindly.

Although Harrison has not signed yet, she was asked about a potential fight against Peña after her comments. To no surprise, the two-time Olympic gold medalist believes she would beat Peña with ease.

“I think that Julianna, you know, congrats to her for her victory, I know she must be on cloud nine right now, and I would just caution her to be careful. You don’t say stuff like that to people like me unless you mean it,” Harrison said to TMZ Sports. “This isn’t like a ‘Conor McGregor, let’s just talk a little sh*t.’ Don’t bite off more than you can chew. And I have a lot of respect for her as well. She went out there and she executed a great game plan, and she did what she had to do. But I’m not the lesser of anything or anyone or anybody. When I come to fight, you’re gonna know you’re in a fight. Be careful what you say.

Kayla Harrison
Photo by Dave Mandel/Invicta FC

“I think it’s just dumb, too. She fights at 135, I fight at, right now, 155, so unless you’re willing to back it up, then don’t say stuff like that, you know, just don’t open that can of worms,” Harrison continued. “Don’t go there… Honestly, I’d probably have to chop off my arm to make 135. ’45, I can make, but I’d have to chop off an arm to make 135, and I think that it only would take me one arm to beat her.”

Even though Kayla Harrison and Julianna Peña are taking shots at one another, it’s unlikely they will ever fight each other. Harrison is not in the UFC yet, and she competes at featherweight and lightweight while Peña is a bantamweight and has even expressed interest in going to 125lbs.

What do you make of Kayla Harrison claiming she could beat Julianna Peña with one arm?

Continue Reading Kayla Harrison: It Would Only Take Me One Arm To Beat Julianna Peña at MMA News.

Cormier & Peña Disagree On Amanda Nunes’ Decision To Tap At UFC 269

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes Amanda Nunes “took her ball and went home” against Julianna Peña at UFC 269.

At the final pay-per-view of 2021, fans were treated to one of the greatest upsets in UFC history. In the co-main …

Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes & Julianna Peña

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes Amanda Nunes “took her ball and went home” against Julianna Peña at UFC 269.

At the final pay-per-view of 2021, fans were treated to one of the greatest upsets in UFC history. In the co-main event, Peña challenged what looked to be an unstoppable reign atop the bantamweight division for double champ Nunes. The narrative for many leading into the fight was that the immense confidence “The Venezuelan Vixen” had would be shut down by the “Lioness,” who branded her foe as “delusional.”

What transpired instead was nothing short of incredible. After a strong opening round for Nunes, Peña turned the heat up in the second, keeping the Brazilian at bay with her jab and standing toe-to-toe with her on the feet. After Nunes’ body language and facial expression changed, the underdog dragged her to the mat and submitted her.

The finish resembled a parody of a nature show, with the zebra turning the tables and actually hunting down and tearing apart the lioness themselves.

Like a portion of fans and pundits in the combat sports community, Cormier, who was calling the fight Octagon-side, believes Nunes was mentally defeated during the fight and perhaps chose to end it before she should have.

“It was crazy, because for as crazy as it seems, she beat Amanda to the point that she made Amanda Nunes take her football and went home,” Cormier said on the latest episode of DC & RC. “It’s like the kid that gets beaten and is like, ‘I’m going home.’

“It’s hard to say Amanda Nunes quit. But, when you look at her body language and you look at the way the choke was put in, you question whether or not that unfamiliar thought crept back into her mind… We speak about her in such legendary terms. We speak about the company that she keeps in terms of female sports. To tap like that after being in that choke, it almost feels like she should’ve just went to sleep… If you’re gonna lose, your place amongst the greats, even if it’s temporary, she can go back and beat Julianna Peña, but it felt like she should go out on her shield more.”

Peña: “She Had No Choice But To Tap”

Unsurprisingly, the newly-crowned UFC women’s bantamweight champion sees it a lot differently. During an appearance on The MMA Hour just days out from her title crowning, Peña claimed the choke was something she’d been working ahead of the fight, and suggested Nunes had no choice but tap.

“Yeah, Rick [Little] and I have been working this choke for a while, and it was the same pretty much variation choke that I got with Sara McMann. It was absolutely tight, and she had no choice but to tap. People want to say that she quit. She didn’t quit. She was getting choked, you know? She had no choice but to tap. I would have broke her neck. So she tapped because she had no choice.”

Whether Nunes tapped prematurely, knew she was beaten, or genuinely had no choice, it certainly doesn’t matter for Peña. “The Venezuelan Vixen” did what no woman had done in Nunes’ previous 12 fights: She broke her inside the Octagon.

Who do you agree with, Julianna Peña or Daniel Cormier?

Continue Reading Cormier & Peña Disagree On Amanda Nunes’ Decision To Tap At UFC 269 at MMA News.

Joe Rogan Tears Into Amanda Nunes: ‘It’s Inexcusable To Be That Tried In The Second Round’

Joe RoganJoe Rogan has some criticism for Amanda Nunes after she lost her bantamweight title this past weekend at UFC 269. Nunes was as high as a -1000 betting favorite to win on Saturday and had been on a tear at both bantamweight and featherweight. That did not deter Julianna Pena from springing one of the […]

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan has some criticism for Amanda Nunes after she lost her bantamweight title this past weekend at UFC 269.

Nunes was as high as a -1000 betting favorite to win on Saturday and had been on a tear at both bantamweight and featherweight. That did not deter Julianna Pena from springing one of the biggest upsets in UFC history to take the title away from Nunes. After the fight, questions started getting asked about whether Nunes took her opponent too lightly or not.

One prominent person asking this is long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan. (H/T mmafighting.com)

“The thing is, one thing I did say leading up to the fight, as they were getting ready, you have to think of all the times where someone has underestimated someone,” Rogan said. “You can never underestimate an opponent. You can’t go into a fight not nervous. You can’t go into a fight completely sure you’re gonna win when that other person is hungry and scared, because weird things happen when people underestimate people. But f*ck, that was nuts.”

During the post-fight interview with Rogan, Nunes said that she did not look past her opponent but just simply “checked out” during the fight. She did have a very good opening round but found herself in a sloppy brawl in the second, that resulted in her gassing out and getting submitted toward the end of that round.

It was a shocking performance from Nunes, one that goes back to some of Nunes’ earlier career losses, and one that is still stunning to Rogan, even several days removed from the event.

“She was swinging for the fences,” Rogan said. “She was trying to take her out quick and then when Julianna was still there, you could tell she was f*cking tired. For you to be a world champion in two divisions and universally recognized as the greatest woman fighter of all time, which Amanda is, it’s inexcusable to be that tired in the second round. And just standing in front of her, just swinging in front of her. No movement side to side, standing right in front of her like you’re watching a regional fight.

“It was caused by Julianna. Julianna made her quit, she didn’t just quit on her own. You’ve got to give Julianna all the credit. … You know, that is what Julianna said leading up to the fight. She said I’m going to bring her back to what it was like when she was younger and she would quit in fights. There were fights where she got exhausted and lost her way, and then she became the greatest of all time. It’s wild to see the difference.”

This loss is a setback for the Nunes but she is likely to get another crack at Pena. Both UFC President Dana White and Pena have said that a rematch will happen immediately. Nunes has said that she will accept the rematch once she has her mind right again.

The full clip from Rogan’s podcast can be viewed below.

Do you agree with Joe Rogan and his comments on Amanda Nunes’ performance at UFC 269?