Julianna Peña is of the opinion that Amanda Nunes will not return to mixed martial arts competition after the potential fight she envisions having against Kayla Harrison.
In the upcoming month, Peña is scheduled to defend her women`s bantamweight championship title against Kayla Harrison, serving as the co-main event for UFC 316. However, this fight represents more than just a title defense; it also presents an opportunity to potentially face the legendary Amanda Nunes, widely considered the greatest female fighter in MMA history. Nunes recently announced her intention to end her two-year retirement and return to the UFC to take on the winner of the Peña vs. Harrison bout. Peña claims she always anticipated Nunes` comeback.
“I was always expecting it,” Peña told Ariel Helwani. “I literally said it. I went over there to Vancouver, watched her lay down her gloves, and told everybody what a liar she was and booed her the entire time because I knew that she wasn’t going to be fully retired.”
“That’s the thing, I hate this whole, ‘I’m retiring. I’m done.’ If you’re going to retire, stay retired. I don’t understand why fighters always retire and then come back. What is the point? Somebody hand this girl the Oscar because she had everybody like, ‘It’s over.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s not. She’s way too young, she’s not going to be done, she doesn’t know what her life is outside of fighting, and she’s going to get bored and she’s going to want to come back and fight again.’ Now that the limelight is not on her, and it’s on Kayla and I, she sees that. I know that she’s itching and scratching to get back in there.”
Nunes stepped away from the sport following her successful defense of the bantamweight title at UFC 289 against Irene Aldana. However, rumors of a potential return, specifically to face Kayla Harrison, began circulating after Harrison joined the UFC roster in 2024. A fight between Nunes and Harrison was heavily rumored back in 2021 until Peña pulled off an upset victory over Nunes at UFC 269, which sent Harrison back to fighting in the PFL promotion. Peña intends to thwart that potential matchup once more by defeating Harrison.
“So she’s in for a long night at the office,” Peña stated about Harrison. “And not only that, but take into consideration her first fight at 135 pounds, going 25 minutes. It’s going to be very grueling and taxing, and at this point, it’s like, how are you going to win? You might be able to lay on top of me for one round, maybe, but after that? Every minute that the fight goes on, the longer that the fight goes on is just better for me. I got the gas tank, I got the cardio.”
Should Peña emerge victorious against Harrison, she has been open about her desire for a third fight against Nunes. However, she expressed doubt that the trilogy bout will actually happen if she manages to spoil the potential Nunes-Harrison matchup again.
“It was told to me, ‘Amanda wants nothing to do with you,’” Peña shared regarding information she received. “‘She wants absolutely nothing to do with you. She hates Kayla. She feels like she has nothing to prove against you, and that she hates Kayla more than she feels like she wants to fight you. So if she comes back, it’s to fight Kayla only.’ When she sees that chaotic mess that she’s going to see on June 7, she’s not going to want to get back in there again and do it all over again. She’ll probably stay ‘retired.’ But we’ll see.”
UFC 316 is currently scheduled to take place on June 17 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Regarding Peña`s fighting style, the author notes their appreciation for her self-awareness. They acknowledge that Peña understands her strength isn`t in technical polish but in making fights difficult, describing her approach as dragging opponents “down into the muck” and likening her style within the sport to “Iowa football.”
