Getty Julianna Pena (L) punches Amanda Nunes of Brazil in their women's bantamweight title fight during the UFC 269 event.
UFC star Julianna Pena is ready to brawl it out in her upcoming bout with Amanda Nunes.
The reigning UFC women’s bantamweight queen Pena is set to take on the former two-division champion Nunes in a rematch at UFC 277. Pena scored one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history when she dethroned Nunes, who racked up a dominant win streak in her run at the top.
During Wednesday’s UFC 277 media day, Pena gave a breakdown of the headlining rematch to the reporters.
“At the end of the day, Amanda and I are the two best fighters in the world,” Peña said (h/t MMA Junkie). “You’re literally getting the two best fighters in the world that are going to collide on Saturday night.
“I can’t tell you that I’m going to pull a rabbit out of the hat. I can just tell you that I’m going to stand there toe to toe with the best in the world, and I’m going to give my best, and we’re going to see whose ovaries are bigger. I’m willing to bet that that’s me.”
Pena isn’t sure of what’s ahead but wants to move on from the rivalry.
“The torch was passed,” Peña said. “I snuffed it out. I’m ready to close this chapter, and I’m ready to move forward. With that being said, it’s hard for me to predict what’s in the future and what’s going to happen.
“I just want to live presently at the moment, and presently I have a bigger, faster, stronger, new gym, better mental-state Amanda that’s going to be facing me on Saturday night, and I don’t take that lightly.”
Nunes Vowed Not To Repeat the Same Mistakes
In an exclusive interview with Heavy, CELSIUS-sponsored athlete Nunes vowed not to succumb to the same mistakes that cost her the gold the first time around.
“The fight starts on the feet so, of course, we’re going to get in a couple of exchanges,” Nunes said. “Of course, I’m not going to make a couple of mistakes that I did in my last one.
“I feel like Julianna now is more, she’s going to be more powerful now because she became a champion.
“She’s going to be more exciting. She’s going to want to push the pace even more in the fight. I feel like that’s where I shine the most when somebody can pressure me when I have a challenge in front of me.”
Pena Claims That Nunes Spied on Her
In a weird twist of events, Pena alleged that Nunes was spying on her training sessions.
“Funny enough, I was watching her sitting in her van like watching my practices,” she revealed (ht Sportskeeda). “They got caught, they got caught big-time and once we saw them watching our practices, they threw the car in reverse and they high-tailed out of there and I’m like I see what you guys are doing there.”
“I don’t need to do any of that though,” continued Peña. “The most important thing is I can learn a lot just by listening to the fights and how they corner and the way they are instructing the fighters on how to move and what combinations to throw and stuff like that.”