UFC 277: Amanda Nunes explains why she lost to Julianna Pena ahead of rematch

UFC sensation Amanda Nunes has explained why she believes she lost to Julianna Pena back at UFC 269.

Prior to UFC 269 last December, Amanda Nunes was on top of the world. She was riding high with a 12-fight win streak to her name, she was the champion in two different weight classes and she’d beaten some of the biggest names in the history of the sport – including Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg.

It seemed as if she could do no wrong until finally, the wheels fell off in a big way for ‘The Lioness’ as she lost the UFC women’s bantamweight championship to Julianna Pena.

The 34-year-old looked good at points during the contest but as the second round went on, it quickly became clear that Pena was willing to walk through fire in the name of finally becoming champion.

She subsequently did, using a rear-naked choke to tap Amanda and seal one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history.

At the time it felt like Pena simply outworked Nunes and forced her to quit, but as is so often the case in this sport, there are two sides to every story.

In the following countdown video, Nunes opened up on her preparation heading into the year-end event.

“I got caught with a bunch of punches that I could’ve avoided, if I had my timing right. I had a very bad knee injury going through my last camp. I tried training one day, then had two days off with COVID, it ended up costing me my belt.

“Every time that I lost back in the day I made some adjustments and changes, and it was all good right after. So, I wanted to be able to train in my own gym [for the rematch] and I decided to do it. We’re going to make it a great place to train for the rest of my career.”

This Saturday night at UFC 277 in Dallas, Amanda Nunes will challenge Julianna