Amanda Nunes explains wanting to fight Kayla Harrison more than Julianna Pena
Amanda Nunes appears to be heading for a return to the Octagon at some point, and she’d prefer to fight Kayla Harrison.
Nunes retired from pro MMA competition after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Irene Aldana on June 10, 2023. Just 10 days later, the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship was vacated. The current titleholder is Nunes’ old foe Julianna Pena.
While Nunes is 1-1 against Pena, she’d rather go one-on-one with Harrison than complete a trilogy against Pena.
Nunes Eyes Harrison
Kayla Harrison will be challenging Julianna Pena for the 135-pound gold at UFC 316 on June 7. During the Brazilian UFC Fight Pass broadcast for UFC 314, Amanda Nunes explained why he wants to fight Harrison more than Pena (via MMAFighting).
“Kayla or Julianna, I want my belt back, and I’ll fight for it,” Nunes said. “I’m driven by challenges. I like to fight for something. Kayla is strong as hell, that’s the one I want. It could be Julianna, cool. I fought her twice, I’ll fight her again. Kayla is strong, she’s coming now and is on a good level, has good judo and great grappling, she’s evolving on the feet, and that’s the one I want. This new thing.”
Nunes and Harrison once trained together under American Top Team, but “The Lioness” didn’t develop a strong relationship with the No. 2-ranked UFC women’s bantamweight.
“We didn’t have a partnership in the gym,” Nunes said. “There was no such thing, but we did some training here and there. I was out of shape, I was always traveling, coming back and doing some training. It wasn’t like we were always training [together] or I was in shape and training with Kayla. Never like that. It was always something random, but that’s it. I’m ready for anyone. I mean it.”
The UFC recently announced that Nunes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during International Fight Week this summer.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
Topics:
Amanda Nunes Kayla Harrison UFC
