Amanda Nunes was uncertain about her future in the sport before entering UFC 289 in June 2023. The 36-year-old had endured a grueling fight camp and had a lot of minor issues on her body. When she finally made it to the fight night and was pummelling Irene Aldana, that is when she had an epiphany. She decided to retire and said that her legs had nerve damage from incessant fighting over the years.

After dominating Aldana for 5 rounds, she climbed out of the cage and immediately informed Dana White of her decision. It is customary that a retired fighter is asked if there is any chance of them to return. However, Nunes was not sure at that time. While she was recuperating from her battered physique from all the fighting, she still stayed active on social media. The interesting thing is she was scheduled to fight Julianna Pena at UFC 289 but a fractured rib prevented Pena from fighting in that event. This allowed Aldana to step into the title fight but even then Nunes said her decision to retire would not have changed. So what is the story with ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ and ‘The Lioness’?

What happened when Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena fought?

Let’s relive the bout between the two bantamweight fighters. They had a pretty long rivalry which would honestly be a novel in itself. It all started with UFC  269 where Charles Oliveira had submitted Dustin Poirier to retain the lightweight belt. However, the co-main event had also taken the limelight. Nunes was looking for her 6th title defense in bantamweight while also carrying the featherweight belt. However, Pena won and Nunes could not defend the belt back.

Pena was the underdog but had an impressive resume coming into the fight. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ needed to prove herself to the UFC world nonetheless. Nunes started the fight with a calf kick against her opponent and sent her to the canvas. Then she also sent a jab, but the Brazilian was taking her time. Pena was maneuvering to stay on her feet and we could see her fight game. Finally, the underdog won by submission in round 2.

Then came UFC 277 which was a rematch and the opening round was pretty patient for both the fighters. Nunes switched stances throughout and dropped Peña twice. However, she was calm and composed. The Brazilian plunged Peña with her brutal right hand, but she did not follow her down to the mat. Pena showed strength, and threw some mixes, but was put down for the third time in the second round. However, in the end, Nunes showed her prowess and won the bout. Nevertheless, the trilogy fight was never fought between them.

Why didn’t Julianna Pena fight Amanda Nunes for the trilogy?

The former UFC bantamweight champion did not compete in the first vacant title after Amanda Nunes’ retirement. She had to withdraw from the UFC289 fight because of an injury and the injury was still not healed properly for the trilogy fight. That is why ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ decided to not participate in the 3rd rematch. “I’m sorry you guys are going to be force-fed this horrible interim title fight — it’s going to be interim because they’re belt warming until I come back,” Peña said on another live show of The MMA Hour. She further stated, “Apologies that I can’t compete, but my next fight will be for a title. Whoever wins between those two chicks, I’ll be fighting the winner.”

Her fans did not believe at first that she had an injury and ultimately, she updated that she was still trying to heal. She then stated, “I’m not trying to give out every single injury because you have to keep a couple of cards close to the chest, but I am injured. I won’t be back until summer.”

Nevertheless, Pena was not happy about Nunes retiring from the sport. Immediately after the latter had laid her plans bare and decided to hang her gloves after the UFC 289 win, Pena took to X and expressed her frustration over the retirement decision.

Julianna Pena spoils Amanda Nunes’ send-off

Pena posted, “I scared you so bad into retirement. Personally, Congratulations. Professionally, wtf was that? #UFC289.” Peña and Nunes were originally slated to main event UFC 289 before Peña had to pull out. After that Nunes suddenly decided to retire not giving Pena the trilogy fight. 

Pena criticized Nunes and said that it was ‘cowardly’ of her to retire. She also mentioned that her opponent had left an unfinished business between them. The decision that the ‘Lioness’ had taken after defending her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana, was because she needed to heal from training and fighting in the combat sports world. Is there any chance of her return?

Will we see Pena vs. Nunes 2? 

Julianna Pena is returning at UFC 307 against Raquel Pennington and she is confident that with the win she might be able to just tempt her legendary opponent to come back into the octagon. Since her title loss to the ‘Lioness’ in 2022 Pena has been advocating for a trilogy against the GOAT despite her retirement.

“I want to defend my belt (if I win), that’s all I care about, defending the belt. I need to get my hand raised on Saturday night, and after I get that hand raised, I don’t need it, I will get my hand raised on Saturday night and after that, I will defend my belt,” Pena stated to MMAJunkie. She even has another rival – Kayla Harrison, who she was open to fighting with but her priority seems to be Amanda Nunes. 

“I think she misses the sport, I think that she doesn’t know what to do with herself now that she’s not fighting and I think that there will be a little green envious monster in her saying that I can go back there and do this… My goal will be to get Amanda back into the Octagon and that will be the biggest women’s fight in UFC history,” she further noted. Interestingly, in a backstage interview at UFC 297 with Megan Olivi, Nunes hinted that she might come back even when she did not regret the retirement decision. She has still kept her options open. So do you think ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ can lure ‘The Lioness’ back into her field?