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Two division UFC champion Amanda Nunes lost the bantamweight title via submission to Julianna Pena in the co-main event of UFC 269.
Nunes, who has since reclaimed the title, admits that she nearly retired after tapping to Pena in December of 2021.
“I was very confused,” Nunes told ESPN (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “Losing my belt was crazy. But at the same time, I know I was sad. Something was wrong. Something wasn’t right. And that’s why it looked, like, not real for me. And then when actually I saw Din (Thomas), right in the arena outside, and I gave him a hug, I looked at him and I said, ‘I think I’m done.’ And we looked at each other, and he looked: ‘Are you sure? OK, call me later. Talk to me later.'”
The champion was set to face Pena for a third time next weekend at UFC 289, but Pena got injured and has been replaced by Irene Aldana.
One thing that helped Nunes not retire was the fact that Pena had now become the bantamweight champion.
“I drove back home, and I was putting my thoughts together, – everything: what I went through, going through that camp, everything that I was upset about – and I was sad too, a couple moments in the camp,” Nunes said. “When I put everything together and me and (my wife) Nina were talking, I said, ‘I cannot leave my belt with Julianna. It can be (anybody) else but her. I cannot leave my belt with that girl. She’s not deserving of that belt. She didn’t do anything to really deserve to hold that belt.'”
