Julianna Pena gets 100% real about Amanda Nunes potentially coming out of retirement: "I was always expecting it"

Julianna Pena said she was not surprised by Amanda Nunes' decision to potentially compete again. Nunes retired from MMA competition in 2023 as the reigning two-division champion. However, in April 2025, she expressed her willingness to fight the winner of the UFC 316 co-main event between Pena and Kayla Harrison, scheduled for June 7.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Pena was asked if she was surprised by Nunes potentially competing again. She replied:

"I was always expecting it. I went over to Vancouver, watched her lay down her gloves and told everybody what a lier she was and booed her the entire time because I knew she wasn't going to be fully retired."

Pena added:

"If you're going to retire, stay retired. I don't understand why fighters retire and then always come back. Somebody hand this girl an Oscar, because she told everybody, like, 'I'm retired. It's over.' And I'm like, 'No, it's not. She's way too young. She's not gonna be done. She doesn't know what her life is outside of fighting. She's gonna get bored and she's gonna want to come back and fight."

Check out Julianna Pena's comments below (0:03):

Amanda Nunes has a notable history with Julianna Pena. Pena defeated her at UFC 269 to capture the bantamweight title, but Nunes reclaimed it in dominant fashion, outclassing Pena in their UFC 277 rematch in July 2022.

Meanwhile, Nunes vs. Harrison has been one of the highly anticipated fights between dominant female MMA fighters since Harrison competed in the PFL.

Potential mega-fights against these two athletes have been speculated as the reason for Nunes' potential comeback.

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Julianna Pena on Amanda Nunes' return to competition: "I have a rhinoceros coming to fight me"

Although Julianna Pena campaigned for a trilogy fight against Amanda Nunes after her lopsided defeat in the rematch, Nunes' retirement had ended the possibility of the bout taking place.

Nunes' potential comeback has opened that door again. However, Pena, who re-captured the bantamweight title with a win over Raquel Pennington, is not letting it distract her from the immediate goal.

In the aforementioned interview with Ariel Helwani, Pena said:

"At the end of the day, Amanda is not my focus. Amanda is the furthest thing from my mind right now. I have a rhinoceros [Kayla Harrison] coming to fight me on June 7 and I need and will be a thousand and ten percent prepared when that happens. So one thing at a time for me." [1:10]

Heading into UFC 316, Pena is a massive +450 underdog while Harrison is a -600 favorite. However, Pena recently expressed her confidence, suggesting that Harrison's weight cut might impact her performance negatively.