UFC president Dana White says he is interested in having Amanda Nunes fight Julianna Pena next for the UFC women’s bantamweight title.
Nunes got through Megan Anderson with relative ease at UFC 259, as she tapped her opponent out for her second defense of the UFC women’s featherweight title. At this point, there aren’t any new challenges for Nunes at 145lbs and she is likely going to return down to 135lbs for her next fight. Although “The Lioness” has beaten many of the top contenders at bantamweight already, there are still a couple of fresh fights out there or the champ at 135lbs. One of those potential opponents is Pena, who previously called Nunes out. Both women have expressed interest in a potential fight, and it seems like White likes it, too.
Speaking to reporters following UFC 259, White confirmed that the promotion is looking to give Nunes a quick turnaround fight, and he hinted that Pena could be her opponent.
“She’s incredible. She’s incredible and she goes in there and she made it look easy tonight against a really tough girl who hits hard and who came to win. So it couldn’t happen to a better human being, she’s one of the sweetest people on earth, and I’m really happy for her and we’re talking about turning her around quick here for the 135lbs title since tonight was an easy night for her. So we’ll see how it goes, ” White said
“Julianna Pena’s been texting all of us all night. She’s been busy tonight. Yeah, we could do that.”
Pena is coming off of a third-round submission win over former title challenger Sara McMann in her last fight. She was set to fight Holly Holm in her next fight but Holm was forced out of it. In the fight prior to that, Pena lost by third-round submission to Germaine de Randamie, but in a division with few other title challengers, Pena stands out the most.
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