“Are you bleeding me dry?” Julianna Pena is frustrated with Amanda Nunes, suggests an interim title
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Julianna Pena suggests an interim belt
UFC bantamweight title contender Julianna Pena is not having it with the postponing of her title shot against two-division champion Amanda Nunes.
Julianna Pena was scheduled to fight the two-division champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 265 in the co-main event to challenge for the bantamweight title. UFC 265 was held at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The fight was unfortunately canceled since the champ was forced to pull out from the fight due to COVID-19 complications. But Julianna still made it to the press conference and also tormented Dana White asking why her opponent pulled out when she has already tested negative.
“Are you bleeding me dry? Is this your game plan? What is the motive here, especially because I heard from a teammate of hers that she hasn’t even been training,” Pena said.
“Even when she was healthy and is healthy has barely been in the gym. That part is frustrating for me because I have been making this fight my top priority. I have been living in the gym. My house is a launching pad – I literally just go there, change clothes, take a shower and go to the next one. My kid has been taking all the sacrifices as I have; she’s been living in her car seat.”
“We’ll fight for the interim belt,” Julianna Pena says incase of Amanda Nunes delay in return
While at first, it sounded very ignorant on Pena’s part, later in the media scrum she explained what led to her frustration. Julianna said she had to go through back-to-back fight camps for this title shot and has sacrificed a lot for this opportunity. The bantamweight contender suggests that if the fight doesn’t happen before December, there needs to be an interim belt acknowledging the efforts and sacrifices of other fighters.
“I do want to take this time to say that I understand her position. She’s a new mother, and she wants to enjoy that time with her baby, and she lacks a little bit of motivation to get up for a fight when she wants to hang out with her newborn. I get that. I was in that same position.
But if you’re going to not fight in December, it’ll be two years since she’s defended the belt at 135 pounds. We’ve got to keep the train moving. Let’s get a girl in there that’s ready to rock, and we’ll fight for the interim belt, and when she’s ready to come back, she can pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.”
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Prateek Athanur
(2944 Articles Published)