“She’s Scared To Lose Her Belt”

Julianna Peña is pissed off.

“She rolled into that first post-fight press conference in a wheel chair, then had the nerve to say she was ‘playing with her food’ but the truth is, she’s just scared to lose her belt,” Peña told me via phone.

Peña was referencing the post fight press conference following their first match-up at UFC 269 in December 2021, which sold “more than 500,000 pay-per-view units” via ESPN Plus, according to a tweet by Sports Business Journal reporter Adam Stern.

So I asked Peña about the rematch, which Nunes won via decision.

“I was hitting her so hard, her eyes were rolling back,” Peña said. “But the fans didn’t see that.” The two exchanged 440 strikes at UFC 277, according to UFC statistics.

“She needs this fight, and she deserves this fight, but she’s not getting it, and that’s not right,” said New York Post sports writer Erich Richter.

“What did Irene Aldana do to deserve it? Peña does, and for whatever reason, she didn’t get it. She must’ve pissed someone off in the front office,” Richter said.

I asked Data Scientist Nate Latshaw to share his analysis of the first two match ups, and whether a trilogy is warranted based on available statistics.

“Digging into the statistics on their first two bouts, I think it’s safe to say Nunes won six of the seven rounds they fought…” Latshaw. “In that sense, it’s not so clear that a trilogy is warranted.”

“Nevertheless, Pena did finish Nunes, which has not been done since Cat Zingano did it in 2014. Also, looking at their first two meetings together, Pena does still hold a slight edge in significant strikes landed 139-131, even after losing every round of their second bout.”

“Again, Cat Zingano is the only other fighter who can say she outlanded Amanda Nunes in significant strikes in the UFC, and that was from their only meeting back in 2014.”

Nunes, “The Lioness” and current Women’s Bantamweight Champion, is 22-5, while Peña, “The Venezuelan Vixen,” is 12-5, according to the UFC.

“We’re 1 and 1,” Peña said. “This is unfinished business.”

What are your thoughts on Nunes vs. Aldana? Should it be Peña instead?