Many fight fans were expecting Amanda Nunes to callout Julianna Pena for a trilogy bout after her dominating unanimous decision win over Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC 289. However, The Lioness shocked the world by announcing her retirement from the UFC in the post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
Amanda Nunes’ retirement infuriates former women’s bantamweight champion, Julianna Pena
While a significant chunk of the combat sports community bid adieu to the dominant Brazilian, Julianna Pena simply expressed her frustration on social media. From her initial tweet, it seemed that The Venezuelan Vixen has made peace with Nunes.
I’ll take that as a compliment #ufc289 @ufc
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) June 11, 2023
But that wasn’t the case as she soon accused Nunes of running away from the trilogy bout. Moreover, Pena took a dig at Amanda for her boring performance against Aldana at UFC 289. The former bantamweight champion vented out her resentment toward Amanda Nunes as she felt that they had unfinished business.
I scared you so bad into retirement. Personally, Congratulations. Professionally, wtf was that? #UFC289
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) June 11, 2023
Canadians don’t boo, they just walked out quietly before The fight was over #ufc289 #snoozefest #terrible #stinker #ducking
— Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) June 11, 2023
Amanda’s decision to retire comes as a surprise as she was at the top of her game. And fighters usually do not hang up their gloves during their peak. But in the end, The Lioness has proved to the world that she is arguably the greatest women’s bantamweight fighter in the history of the UFC.
Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena got scrapped due to the latter’s rib injury
Julianna Pena was supposed to be the one to square off against Amanda Nunes inside the octagon today in the main event of UFC 289. However, the Venezuelan Vixen had to pull out of her bout against Nunes as she suffered a major injury.
Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Peña 3 is the main event of #UFC289 in Vancouver Canada 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/NesxrnnRYc
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) April 7, 2023
A few months ago, Julianna disclosed that she had a back injury and was planning to fight Amanda Nunes as per schedule. However, her pain became unbearable as she suffered a bruise on the rib. Therefore the former UFC champion had to pull out from the trilogy fight. Consequently, the UFC had to find a replacement and they announced Irene Aldana as the one to challenge Nunes.
