Morning Report: ‘Snubbed’ Julianna Pena says Amanda Nunes took ‘easy way out’ with retirement

Julianna Pena will never be satisfied with Amanda Nunes’ retirement.

A women’s bantamweight title trilogy was originally on tap for UFC 289 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada this past month. Unfortunately for the former title holder Pena, a rib injury knocked her from a chance at redemption against the two-division champion Nunes.

Mexico’s Irene Aldana saved the day and filled in for “The Venezuelan Vixen” but ultimately came up short via a lopsided unanimous decision. Nunes, 35, secured her 11th UFC win in a title fight by taking out Aldana, prompting “The Lionness” to lay down the gloves and announce her retirement. Pena — an audience member sitting cageside on the night — was instantly upset with the declaration and still sees cowardice in the all-time great’s decision.

“I think the biggest thing for me is we are 1-1,” Pena told ESPN. “I think I’m the only person on the face of the planet that is allowed or can say or call Amanda Nunes a coward because we do have unfinished business and I definitely think she found the easy way out in retiring. Injuries happen in the sport. Of course, it’s my fault that I wasn’t able to compete at that time but she also pulled out of our fight when we were supposed to fight the first time. She’s pulled out of many fights in the past. It doesn’t mean you go retire because of it.

“It’s just a little frustrating and I think I was definitely showing my frustration there cageside, which of course that’s what I’m gonna do when they’re sticking the camera in my face and asking me what’re my thoughts after every single round. I got a little ahead of myself.”

After Nunes’ inevitable retirement, the legend revealed she had thoughts marinating a couple of fights beforehand but didn’t want to close things on a Pena bout. The pair had their rematch nearly one full year before UFC 289, resulting in Nunes reclaiming 135-pound gold with a dominant unanimous decision win. Six months earlier, Pena scored her last victory when pulling off the huge upset over Nunes by second-round rear-naked choke at UFC 269.

“As a mom, as a human, I wish her the best,” Pena said. “Enjoy your retirement, you know what I mean? Have a good time. But on a professional level, I’m like, you can’t go when we’re 1-1. You gotta finish it out. You gotta see it through. So, I think she knew what was in store for her and that’s why she chose the easy way out and I guess we’ll never know.”

Nunes set several records and notable achievements in her impressive 28-fight career. On her 12-fight winning streak that saw her win bantamweight and featherweight gold, the Pojuca, Bahia, Brazil native defeated every champion those divisions have ever had in the UFC. When it comes to her double champ status, Nunes is the only female UFC fighter to achieve such a feat.

With Pena missing out on her most recent title opportunity, she’s expected to be one-half of whatever ends up being the vacant bantamweight title tilt. Ideally, Pena envisions healing back to 100 percent by Fall for a return. The chances are slim that Pena gets her wish to fight Nunes again — especially next. If the arguable greatest of all time ever does come back, however, Pena will be waiting.

“I’ll always want to fight her if she decides to return, absolutely,” Pena said. “There’s fights that are on my bucket list of things that I want to get back and that I want to do and she’s definitely one of them. I definitely think she knows that, I know that, maybe not the general public knows that because all they’re looking at is possibly highlights.

“What I would encourage fans to do is go back and watch that [second] fight and actually take into account without the commentary or anything, just watch the fight. You’ll see that it was a lot closer than people want to give me credit for. They see the drops, they see me getting knocked down and yeah, absolutely that happened, but I let her take the time to go make those adjustments and revamp her entire style. I felt like it was kind of a snub for her to not let me have that same opportunity.”

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Embedded 2.

Whittaker vs. Du Plessis fight preview.

Mexico’s finest.

Cliff jumpers.

Celebrations.

Shakeup.

Sunshine.

Warning.

Safety first.

Good old GSP and his dinos.

Disagree.

Stackin’ ‘em up.

Shots.

Lol.

Champs.

Bo Nickal (4-0) vs. Val Woodburn (7-0); UFC 290, July 8

Yusaku Kinoshita (6-2) vs. Billy Goff (8-2); UFC Singapore, Aug. 26

Honestly, I think the only chance we have of seeing Nunes return is if Pena recaptures the belt. Simply for the petty lulz.

Thanks for reading!

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