Getty President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White attends UFC 274.
UFC president Dana White hopes Julianna Pena wouldn’t need to resort to illegal moves in her upcoming bout with Amanda Nunes at UFC 277.
The reigning UFC women’s bantamweight title holder Pena is set to clash with the once-dominant champion two-division champion Nunes in a highly-awaited rematch on July 30 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Their main event outing comes after Pena scored the biggest upset in UFC history when she dethroned Nunes at UFC 269 in Dec. 2021.
During Friday’s UFC 277 pre-fight press conference, Pena did not hold back in sharing her determination to defend the belt against Nunes in their upcoming contest.
“I’m going to say yet again, I’m not surprised mother (f**ker),” Pena said. “I’m going to punch, kick, pull her hair.
“I’m going to bite her, I’m going to gouge her eyeballs out if I have to. I’m literally going to do everything in there. Trust me when I say I’m ready and willing to die. Whatever it takes, I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
Upon hearing Pena’s response, White quickly expressed his dislike of the idea: “Let’s hope literally none of that happens.”
Nunes remained confident she will present a much tougher challenge for Pena this time around.
“I will be there ready to be even better than her,” she said. “She’s really going to face a lion she didn’t see last time. So, I’m ready. There’s only one lion in the jungle and that’s me.”
Nunes Addresses ‘Spygate’ Allegations
During a July 26 interview with Kevin Iole for Yahoo Sports!, Pena claimed that Nunes was caught spying on her during practice. “The Venezuelan Vixen” continued taking aim at the Brazilian, bashing the invincible aura Nunes once had.
“Fedor Emilianenko has an aura,” Pena said. “Mike Tyson, Dana White, they have auras. I don’t know about this aura that you speak of with Amanda Nunes, I’m not seeing it.”
Nunes addressed the ‘spygate‘ allegations confirming there to be some truth to the matter.
“One time, I was walking, I saw her training, yeah. What is the problem in that?” she added. “I walk in, I saw, okay, and I went to my locker room. It was an accident.”
Nunes Revealed Her Reason for Return
Nunes is widely regarded to be the best female mixed martial artist of all time. She has accomplished, by far more than any other woman, being the first and only two-division title holder to defend while holding both.
She talked about what motivated her to make her comeback to fighting and indicated hanging up the gloves on a cheerful end.
“Honestly, how I lost I couldn’t take it,” she said. “So, I went back home and I have to do this again. I make all the adjustments and the changes that I was supposed to do and I jumped camp.
“I wanted the belt back, this is what I love to do, this is the feeling that I like, and I cannot retire like that. That was my main reason. I got to fight, you know. I got to fight, I got to be there and then, I got to be there 100 percent and do my best.”