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Chael Sonnen has suggested that Amanda Nunes' first fight with Julianna Pena shares an eerie similarity with Conor McGregor’s first fight against Nate Diaz. Additionally, Sonnen notably compared the upcoming Nunes-Pena rematch to the rematch between McGregor and Diaz.
Sonnen explained that akin to McGregor beating Diaz in round one of their first fight, Nunes beat Pena in round one of their bout. However, both McGregor and Nunes were inefficient with their energy and lost their respective fights via submission in round two.
McGregor admitted that he failed to efficiently manage his energy in the first fight. The Irishman rectified his error and beat Diaz via majority decision in the rematch. Chael Sonnen isn’t sure whether Amanda Nunes will make a similar adjustment and beat Julianna Pena in their rematch. In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen stated:
“Now that she [Nunes] is aware of that, can she correct it? I mean, that’s very similar to what happened to Conor McGregor the first time he fought Nate Diaz. But Conor was aware of it. He even came and told us that. ‘I put everything into those punches. He [Diaz] took them. Then, I didn’t have any punches left.’”
“'Was not efficient with my energy,' was the exact statement. But he was able to correct that because he was aware of it. Is Amanda? I don’t know. None of us know.”
Watch Sonnen compare the fights at 5:40 of the video below:
Julianna Pena fires back at Amanda Nunes after ‘The Lioness’ blames her UFC 269 loss on knee injuries
Julianna Pena defeated Amanda Nunes via second-round submission at UFC 269 in December 2021 to capture the UFC women’s bantamweight title. 'The Venezuelan Vixen' is scheduled to defend her title in a rematch with Nunes at UFC 277 on July 30.
Speaking to ESPN MMA, Amanda Nunes recently revealed that her training for UFC 269 was hindered by knee injury issues. Julianna Pena subsequently hit back by insinuating that 'The Lioness' was making excuses for her defeat.
Pena noted that she has undergone surgeries on both knees but hasn’t blamed them for her losses. In an interview with Spokane CBS affiliate KREM2, Pena said:
“So, you gotta say whatever you can to motivate yourself and to pump yourself up, and to sleep at night so that you can say ‘Yes, it was my knees, and next time I’m gonna get it done.’ So you gotta say whatever you gotta say, and I understand that."
Watch Pena's KREM2 interview below:
