Without fighting, Amanda Nunes is lost.
Earlier this month, “Liones” confirmed that she will return to the fighting game later this year to win the UFC 316 co-main event clash with bantamweight queen Julian Na Pena and two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison.
No matter who comes to the top, facing the winner of Nunes will create the biggest battle in women’s MMA history. However, the reason for shortening Nunes’ retirement in 2023 has nothing to do with fame, good fortune or solving old grim.
“I literally thought I could do something, but a year later, everything started to get worse,” Nunes revealed in an interview with the UFC along with Jim Norton and Matt Serra. “I started to feel anxious. I always struggled with everything. I had no schedule in my life. I had to do something. So I started training, but for what? I can’t train, and I have no goals in life.
Amanda Nunez has both historic Kaela Harrison and Juliana Pena
Nunes’ Return undoubtedly added to the Pena vs Harrison hype. This is a battle between two athletes whose “Lion” has history.
Of course, Nunes went to Pena and toe on two separate occasions of the octagon. Their first meeting at UFC 269 was perhaps the biggest upset in promotional history after “Venezuela’s Vixen” submitted Nunes in the second round of the bantamweight title Tilt.
Nunes eventually regained the title from Pena in a dominant way seven months later, urging Pena to lobby hard in the lobby for the trilogy battle with the Brazilians. At one point, the fight was booked, but Pena was forced to resign due to injuries.
Instead, Nunes laid out a bantamweight title and a featherweight title, proceeding to Pamel’s Irena Ardana in the fifth round before announcing his retirement from the sport.
As for Harrison, Nunes and two Olympic gold medalists had previously trained together in the top team in the US, but “Lion” chose to leave the gym after it was revealed that she and Harrison were on the conflict course despite Harrison still signing with the PFL.
“I don’t have a girl walking in the gym and training with my coach… in my gym and like, I’m always attacking me on social media,” Nunes said in a 2022 interview with Daniel Cormier. “And when we walk the gym and the train, we are best friends.
If Harrison wins Pena’s title on June 7th, as the odds maker predicts she will, it will set the stage for one of the most anticipated battles in mixed martial arts history, regardless of gender.