Somewhere in South Florida, a lion sleeps tonight. Amanda Nunes, the Lioness, wasn’t fighting and is in retirement but she won big in Salt Lake City. The longtime UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion was surely in the minds of many this weekend. Nobody, however, was thinking about her more than now two-time champion, Julianna Peña. Peña defeated Raquel Pennington in what was an incredibly close title fight. In her post-fight interview she called for a trilogy fight to settle the score with the now-retired Nunes. The 36-year old was last seen after a dominant win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289.
This would be an interesting fight to make if Peña didn’t have anyone who was worthy of the next title shot. Enter Kayla Harrison. The former PFL champion has been nothing short of outstanding since joining MMA. She has switched focus from being a gold-medal judoka to being an MMA superstar.
Kayla Harrison on this same card was unbelievable once again in a win over No. 2 contender Ketlen Viera. It is no secret that this is the next fight to make as Peña and Harrison were picture-in-picture while the new champion spoke with Joe Rogan in the Octagon. Amanda is going to have to wait just one more fight.
The Kayla Harrison Connection
Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes will always be connected due to being teammates at American Top Team. The two both trained for many years while being the queens of the respected divisions. Harrison has been amazing since becoming a mixed martial artist but the smudge on her reputation is the fights we never saw. While with the PFL, we were never able to see a fight with Bellator’s Cris Cyborg. When the merger came, Harrison jumped to the UFC in a lucrative deal, and when she joined, the fight that fans were dreaming of was Nunes vs. Harrison but for now, Amanda has put down the gloves.
After Nunes lost to Peña, she left ATT and started training at her own facility. She went on to defeat Peña in a rematch and then Aldana before hanging up the gloves. Even while being teammates, the two women knew that this fight was at the top of many fans minds.
If Kayla Harrison is to defeat Julianna Peña in 2025, this could be the bout that gets Nunes back into training. She is going to have plenty of tape and knowledge ahead of this fight. The question will be if she has stayed in fight shape and can train as hard as she once did.
The Case For Julianna Peña
Before Saturday night, the last time we had seen Peña was a lopsided performance over two years ago that saw Nunes regain her belt. Nunes looked like a different fighter coming off a loss in her rematch of July 2022. Nunes has been nothing short of a role model and is widely regarded as the GOAT of women’s MMA. A third fight could be intriguing as the two are tied at a victory apiece. Peña however, had issues during her fight with Raquel Pennington despite the victory.
Peña will need to be a much better fighter than she was on Saturday night if she wants to earn the rematch. Peña seemed to have gassed out in the championship rounds, lost focus in her striking, and was unable to get a takedown late. She was dropped in the fourth round. This was remarkably Pennington’s first knockdown in her UFC career. To wake up the lioness, she would have needed to make more of a statement.
What Happens Now?
One would think the easy answer is that Amanda will be ready. She is going to wait for the next title shot for these two to occur and you’d expect her to be cage side the night of the fight. Peña is currently holding the bout and Dana in his post fight presser mentioned the UFC will look to return to both Seattle and Chicago in 2025. Peña is from Spokane and trains out of VFS Academy in the Chicago suburbs.
It’s easy to think that she will be on one of these two cards. Nunes has been in the Octagon with Peña and in the gym with Harrison. She will likely sit back, sharpen her tools, and watch tape with her coaches. One would be willing to bet we see her back in the cage in 2025 than not.
