Julianna Pena hits back at critics over possible trilogy with Amanda Nunes: “They’re making Deiveson Figuieredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4 for Pete’s sake”

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena believes a trilogy with Amanda Nunes has to be next.

‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ has been out of action since her title defense against ‘The Lioness’ at UFC 277 in July. The bout was a rematch of their prior encounter in December 2021. There, Pena sprung one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, submitting Nunes in round two.

Sadly for the longtime women’s bantamweight contender, her championship run was brief. At UFC 277, Pena was dominated by Nunes, who went on to win by unanimous decision. Although the champion had her moments, it was essentially one-way traffic from the Brazilian.

Despite the lopsided rematch, Julianna Pena believes a trilogy fight against Amanda Nunes is in order. Over the last few months, the former champion has called for the third clash, but it hasn’t yet come to fruition. Instead, she’s received backlash from names such as UFC commentator Daniel Cormier, who insists the fight isn’t necessary.

However, the former champion doesn’t see it that way. On the red carpet of the World MMA Awards, Pena once again called for the trilogy and stated it is the only logical fight to make. She also hit back at critics and noted that Deiveson Figueiredo will fight Brandon Moreno for a historic fourth time in January.

“The champ Amanda doesn’t have a fight, and former champ soon to be and new champ does not have a fight, so I feel like that’s the only fight to make,” Peña stated on the World MMA Awards red carpet. “That’s the only fight that makes sense for me, and that’s the only fight I see in my future.” (h/t MMAJunkie)

She continued, “For me, there could be no other answer. They’re making Deiveson Figuieredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4 for Pete’s sake, I finished her the first time. I ran out of time the second time, and I allowed her that opportunity to make those adjustments and to go back and change those things in that camp in the rematch. I absolutely feel like the kosher thing to do would be to allow me to make the same adjustments.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see the third fight? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!