“She had no choice”- Julianna Pena dismisses the narrative that Amanda Nunes quit at UFC 269, claims it would have “broke her neck”
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Julianna Pena says Amanda Nunes "Didn't quit" against her.
Julianna Pena not only shocked the MMA fans but shocked the entire world when she defeated ‘The Lioness’ and the woman who is widely regarded as “The GOAT” Amanda Nunes, what was more surprising was the way Nunes was defeated, with a rear-naked choke after getting outboxed and outdone by the then challenger and now champion.
The surprise in Pena winning was not only that it happened, but how it happened. Nunes showed little resistance to the choke that ended her reign, and multiple fighters and analysts have questioned her perseverance. Pena thinks the criticism of Nunes’ is too strong, though, because she said the technique she applied was no joke
“She didn’t have a choice but to tap,” Pena said. “She literally was going to get hurt if she didn’t tap. I knew that I had that choke and I knew it doesn’t have to be as deep as it needs to be for a standard rear-naked choke in order to finish it. That was a variation of the rear-naked choke I’ve been working for a while. I knew she was going to have no choice but to tap.”
WATCH: Julianna Pena sharing her thoughts on her fight and more
Its as DC said,”She called her shot.” Pena said that Nunes was gonna get tired and that is exactly what happened as Nunes was visibly flat-footed and out of breath somewhere in the middle of the 2nd round.
“She had no choice but to tap,” Pena said on people saying that, Amanda quit. Pena stated,” People want to say didn’t quit, she was getting choked. She had no choice but to tap. I would have broke her neck. She tapped because she had no choice.”
“This sport takes so much out of you mentally, emotionally, physically that you have to be on top”- Julianna Pena had no doubts that her confidence would translate against Amanda Nunes
Pena had no doubts that his confidence would translate into real-life practice, and she credited the execution for having all the necessary elements firing on all cylinders.
“This sport takes so much out of you mentally, emotionally, physically that you have to be on top and be in the right mind frame and the right state of mind,” Pena said. “I think she was just faking the right mind frame, but my mind frame was 100 percent solid. I wasn’t faking anything and I knew I was in such a great head space mentally that I knew all I needed was for her to show up.”
Pena’s win over Nunes shook up to sport and put new life into the 135-pound division, which had been dominated by Nunes since she won the belt at UFC 200 in July 2016. It also appeared to derail the promotion’s plans for Nunes to fight two-time PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist
Kayla Harrison, who is a free agent that recently met with the UFC brass. If Harrison does sign with the UFC, she would compete at women’s featherweight.
Pena has said repeatedly she doesn’t have much interest in moving up in weight, and she’s currently unbothered by the idea of Harrison as a potential opponent. Knowing the way the UFC does their business, they will likely make an effort to put Julianna against Harrison.
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