Former UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes says injuries to both of her knees severely hampered her training camp and performance in her UFC 269 loss to Julianna Pena.
Nunes (21-5) had a night to forget in Dec. at UFC 269. After going unbeaten for six straight years, the two-division champion saw her 12-fight win streak, and reign as bantamweight champion, abruptly ended by Pena (11-4). “The Venezuelan Vixen” outworked and beat up the women’s MMA legend in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
To many observers of the sport, “The Lioness” was uncharacteristically reckless and lacked the strong cardio she always brings into her bouts. In a new interview with “>ESPN MMA, the Brazilian explained that she had several issues during her fight camp that led to a less than optimal performance. However, since this was the second time the matchup was booked, Nunes feared the optics of pulling out of the bout a second straight time and chose to compete despite reasons to reschedule the fight.
Amanda Nunes explains knee issues in the leadup to UFC 269 loss
“Looking back to my whole camp for this fight, of course, it was a mess. And I always wanted to put in my head. ‘It’s okay, I can do this.’ Because [fighters] are like that. We wanna go through whatever to step in the cage,” Nunes explained. “My first fight with her fell through, I got COVID, all those things. And in my second [booking with her] in the camp, I went through a couple of issues as well, that I wasn’t able to really show up at the gym every day 100%.
“But I didn’t want to let that fight go again. I didn’t think it would look good for me,” she continued. “That was what I felt was like my big mistake for that [fight]. I didn’t want to look back in letting that fight go once again, so I did it and I paid for my mistake. I was supposed to listen to doctors. I was supposed to listen to my body. … And obviously, in the fight, I really showed how my camp was. So, yea, I feel like I paid for it.”
In the conversation, Nunes revealed that injuries to both of her knees seriously affected her throughout her fight camp, and that some extended rest and rehab could have improved her ailing ligaments.
“Actually, both knees were like pretty bad. I know I wasn’t able to recover. Every time that I’m training, the next day [I can’t even] walk,” she said. “But I don’t want to make excuses. I paid for my mistakes, but I want to do a full camp [healthy] and I didn’t.”
Nunes wishes a ‘strong voice’ in her camp would have talked her out of Pena fight
The reigning featherweight champion explained the injuries to her knees did not allow her to do much grappling training, and her normal weight cut process was hindered because she was unable to do any long-distance jogging. Which is a major part of how she gets her weight down during camp.
As she looks back on it all, she wishes there had been a “strong voice” in the camp that could have talked her out of the fight, and convinced her to push the date back. Following her first loss since 2015, Nunes officially left her long-time training home at American Top Team and plans to train out of a newly formed gym for her next Octagon appearance.
“It’s very hard to pull out. But I feel like if I had a strong voice; maybe like tell me, ‘Don’t do it, you’re not 100%.’ I feel like if the people around me really wanted to not let me fight, and put the fight for a later [date], I might [have postponed] but I will never know,” said Nunes. “At the same time, I wanted to fight so bad. I feel like it was a mistake.”
Last week, it was announced that Nunes and Pena would be opposing coaches in season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter, which is set to premiere in May. They will then face off in a championship rematch later this year.
