Former UFC double-division champion Amanda Nunes’ loss to Julianna Pena came as a surprise for the MMA community. It shocked many fans to see ‘The Lioness’ being defeated after dominating the division for so long.
While Nunes started the fight well, Pena did not back down and ended up winning the fight via submission. Recently, UFC President Dana White revealed the actual reason behind Nunes’ poor performance.
In a recent sit-in interview with Brett Okamoto for ESPN, the UFC boss Dana White revealed that he had a conversation with the featherweight champ after her fight against Pena. During the conversation, the Brazilian told White what actually happened during the match.
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“I talked to her that night, and she said she can’t explain it, that her body locked up on her and that she couldn’t do anything that night,” White said. “Her body locked up and she doesn’t really understand what happened, but she wants to find out. She’s going to dive in and talk to some doctors, performance doctors or whatever, and figure out what happened to her.”
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Notably, it seems like Nunes could not find her form during her 8th title defense. Many people have speculated the reason behind this was the side effects of her weight cut.
Dana White gives full credits to Julianna Pena
Dana White publicly regretted not being able to make a fight between Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison, while the former was still a double-division champion. However, this did not stop him from giving credit where it was due. In the same interview, the UFC President praised Julianna Pena for her incredible grit.
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“[Nunes] came out and started going after Julianna, and the thing about Julianna is she had it in her mind that she was going to win this fight,” White said. “She put pressure on Amanda and kept coming forward and kept coming right at her and did what it took to win the fight.”
Reportedly, Amanda Nunes (21-5) and Julianna Pena (12-4) will face each other in a rematch in early spring of next year. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how after Nunes’ loss the power distribution will shuffle in the women’s faction of the UFC.
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What do you make of Dana White’s revelations? Let us know in the comments below.