Amanda Nunes says 'clown' Julianna Pena will pay for talk at UFC 269: 'She's delusional'

LAS VEGAS – Amanda Nunes has been paying attention to all of Julianna Pena’s antics ahead of UFC 269, and she can only sum up her next title challenger as a “clown.”

Nunes (21-4 MMA, 14-1 UFC), a two-division UFC champion, puts her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Pena (10-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in Saturday’s pay-per-view co-headliner at T-Mobile Arena.

With the division thin on challengers, Pena aggressively stumped to get the matchup with “The Lioness.” She said she thinks she can exploit the champ-champ on the ground, but Nunes finds that laughable and points to their resumes for evidence.

“She’s delusional,” Nunes told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC 269 media day. “What about her best fiend, Miesha Tate? What about Sara McMann? Sara McMann almost beat her. Sara McMann give up in the fight. If she didn’t give up, she would’ve beat Julianna. I beat Sara McMann years ago. I feel like she can talk about whatever she wants. She has to do that to bring all the attention. I’m going to tell her she can have all the attention she wants, because Saturday is my night. Nobody is going to take that belt from me.

“She has all the holes, so I can finish her on the floor. Germaine (de Randamie) finished her. Germaine is a striker and finished Julianna Pena. My game is above all those girls she fought. I just need a mistake from her on the striking or on the floor.”

Nunes said she can appreciate Pena’s moxie in pushing the fight so hard. She said it “motivates everybody,” from herself to the fans to the media. That’s been rare of late for Nunes, who has dominated her competition to 12 consecutive victories.

Although Nunes is feeling as unbeatable as ever and is a massive betting favorite, she won’t make the mistake of overlooking her opponent. Nunes said her training camp was one of the best of her career, and the cut down to 135 pounds is going perfectly, and she expects that to translate this weekend.

“Inside the cage everyone becomes dangerous,” Nunes said. “She has nothing to lose. I have to really be ready for everything. She’s definitely dangerous. She’s a very good fighter. She never fight a lioness before.”