by Dane McGuire
Immediately following Julianna Peña’s shocking upset win for the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 269, former champion Amanda Nunes accepted a rematch.
Nunes, who is also still the women’s champion at 145 pounds wrote in a brief Instagram post after the fight:
“You guys think I’m going to go out unbalanced. I undoubtedly accept the rematch. Give me a little time to get my sh*t together and I will be back better than ever.”
Peña submitted Nunes by way of a rear-naked choke, ending Nunes’ five-year run as the queen of the women’s 135-pound division.
“Everybody was sleeping on me, and I shook up the world and did exactly what I said I was going to do,” Peña said after the victory. “But I’m not surprised. I have a big heart and determination.”
“Amanda has been such a great champion, and she’s done a ton for the sport,” Peña continued. “For me to be able to take out arguably the greatest of all time is something that’s still sinking in right now.”
Following the bout, the new champion had no issue with a rematch against Nunes. However, Peña is also open to rematches against women’s 125-pound champion Valentina Shevchenko and Germaine de Randamie.
“We can rematch at 135 pounds if she wants to do that, but whatever the company decides,” Peña said. “It would be great to be a two-division champion, even to go down to 125 and face Valentina down there. Right now, I just want to soak in the moment of being a champion.”
While Nunes did joke that she was free for a rematch next week or next month, she ultimately wants to take some time off to spend with her family for now.
“In all fairness, I’ve been in camp for a year. I really think that my daughter deserves some mommy time, some vacation,” Nunes said. “After that, definitely, if she wants to do a rematch, we can do a rematch. I’ve always been a company girl. Point me in the direction, and I’ll go there.”
Again addressing the upset win and the adversity she faced en route to UFC 269, Peña said:
“I shook up the world, and I did what I said I was going to do,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I’m not surprised. … I’ve been through the wash. I’ve done it all. I’m talking torn everything that you could possibly think of, ran over by cars, hit by dudes in the alleys, I’ve done it all. Nothing was going to stop me from getting this belt. It’s my time.”