Pena recaptured the title after edging a split-decision against Raquel Pennington in the co-main event in Salt Lake City, then turned her attention to a possible trilogy fight with Nunes, who retired after defeating Irene Aldana at UFC 289 last June.
Pena was due to face Nunes in a trilogy fight that day, but after “The Venezuelan Vixen” was forced out of the matchup through injury, Nunes faced Aldana instead, and announced her retirement in the Octagon after her victory.
It left Pena frustrated, as the chance to complete her trilogy with the woman many view as the female GOAT fell by the wayside. But Pena remains convinced that Nunes has more to give, and thinks that her returning to the top might be the spark “The Lioness” needs to make that decision to return to action again.
“When I saw Amanda retire that day in Canada, I was sitting cagesid,” Pena told reporters backstage at UFC 307.
“And then you hear Dana White saying, ‘I think she retired too early.’ And then you watch her, you know, and I feel like she’s just twiddling her thumbs, wondering, ‘What is my identity? What am I doing? I’m bored. Who am I if I’m not fighting in the UFC?’
“So there’s an air that I feel that she misses the sport, that she’s looking to find something that’s going to make her want to come back.”
Pena said that she is the only fighter on the women’s roster who truly wants to face Nunes, and she laid out the case for a trilogy fight with the Brazilian if Nunes did take up the opportunity to return to the Octagon.
“Kayla never mentioned her name when she beat Holly Holm, and she sure is not mentioning her name now,” Pena said.
“None of the other girls were mentioning Amanda’s name – (the fighter) that they considered the greatest of all time – yet I was, and I never shied away from that. And I still am, because I truly do not believe that she’s done.
“I think she retired too early. I think that she’s looking for something to do. And that, to me, is the biggest fight in women’s mixed martial arts history, because we’re 1-1.
“My fight against her the first time was so dominant, I made her tap. Our second fight, I ran out of time. I lost a decision handily. Fine, no problem, but it would be nice to put it to bed once and for all and get that trilogy fight that I feel that she ran away from.”
But, as things stand, Nunes is retired. And if that remains the case, Pena conceded that a potential matchup with Kayla Harrison could also be huge for the division.
“Yes. If Amanda cowers away again and does not come back and fight me, then yes, you’re absolutely right,” she responded to a reporter.
“Kayla brings a lot of eyeballs and a lot of attention to the sport. And, actually, I love that.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdStTisNtDQ
