Julianna Pena to Amanda Nunes: Vacate bantamweight title if you want “to stay fat at 145”

Julianna Pena has a message for Amanda Nunes: Vacate the bantamweight title if you’re not going to defend it.

Nunes currently holds the UFC bantamweight featherweight titles, and has defended both multiple times. Her last two fights, however, have both been featherweight title defenses, which has evidently drawn the frustration of Pena.

Pena, who is riding an impressive submission win over Sara McMann, went on the offensive against Nunes in a recent interview with ESPN, demanding the Brazilian vacate her bantamweight title if she doesn’t intend to defend it soon.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1369673702678355973

“Forget Holly Holm,” Pena began, referencing a planned matchup with Holm that recently fell through (via MMA Mania). “I want to fight for the title. [The bantamweight title] has not been defended for over a year. If you’re not going to fight, then give it up, get the F out of here and let someone else fight for it. If she wants to stay fat at 145 [pounds], do that then.

“All these girls who fight at 145 can make 135, I hope you know that,” Pena added. “They can make the weight. They just want to be lazy and they don’t want to cut. 135 pounds is where the fights are at. No one cares about the 145-pound division; it’s dead, it’s done.”

“You act like you cleaned out the division. You haven’t cleaned out the division. I am still here, I am still standing and I have been here this entire time.”

While Pena is riding a win over McMann, she was submitted by Germaine de Randamie in her next most recent fight. That fight was preceded by a decision win over former flyweight champion Nicco Montano, which marked her first fight back after a hiatus of more than two years.

Do you think Julianna Pena deserves a crack at Amanda Nunes? How do you think this matchup would play out?