Julianna Pena says that she made Amanda Nunes relevant again

09 June 2023

Former UFC Bantamweight champion Julianna Pena feels that she deserves credit for making Amanda Nunes relevant again.

“Venezuelan Vixen” was supposed to have challenged Nunes in a trilogy bout at UFC 289 in Vancouver until a broken rib forced her to withdraw from the bout.

Nunes is now set to defend her Bantamweight title against Mexico’s Irene Aldana in the UFC 289 main event. Thankfully for Nunes, Pena had come along before this fight to give her a much-needed boost in notoriety.

Speaking to Shakiel Mahjouri, Pena noted that she deserves credit for making Amanda Nunes relevant again.

“Everybody always has that one person that’s just stuck in their butt and that’s me for Amanda. I know that she knows that. I think at the end of the day she’s probably really thankful for me making her relevant again when I beat her because no one really cared about Amanda Nunes because she was just stomping everybody out and knocking them out in the first round. So, I think that they were excited to see somebody come in and stop her dead in her tracks with dominance and I think they were excited to see the savagery and the heart that I had. The determination to never give up in the second fight and unfortunately for me, I ran out of time,” Pena said.

Pena had secured a win over Nunes back in December 2021. The win proved to be one of the biggest upsets in the UFC history. However, after this, Amanda Nunes came back strongly and secured a win over Pena to regain the title in 2022.

Nunes will now be looking to continue her title run with a win over Irene Aldana.

ALSO READ | Amanda Nunes did not want to fight me: says Julianna Pena

What are your thoughts on the claim from Pena? Let us know in the comments below.