Cris Cyborg says Amanda Nunes “quit” against Julianna Pena at UFC 269
Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg says that her former rival Amanda Nunes “quit” against Julianna Pena at UFC 269.
Nunes lost the UFC women’s bantamweight title to Pena in shocking fashion last weekend at UFC 269. Despite being an 11-to-1 favorite to defend her title, Nunes was finished in the second round when Pena got her to the ground and submitted her. But for many observers of the sport, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan and now Cyborg, the submission was not entirely legitimate. It’s of the opinion of some, including Cyborg, that this was a quit job by Nunes, as she explained in a recent interview.
“I don’t feel like Julianna did any submission because she didn’t have a submission the way she finished the fight,” Cyborg told MMA reporter James Lynch of Fanatics View (h/t MMAjunkie.com). “I feel like Amanda Nunes at one point, she sees she cannot finish and Julianna Peña continued going forward and she tapped. But (Peña) didn’t have any submission. I don’t know what was passing through her mind in the second round because when you’re going to fight for the title, you’re ready for seven rounds, and that was the second. I feel like Julianna Peña did very good jabs. In the second round, Amanda wanted to finish the fight, to KO her as fast as she can, but Julianna was keeping her on the jab. The jab really opened a lot of doors for Julianna. The reality is when they stopped the fight, I didn’t think they finished the fight because she didn’t have a submission there, and I didn’t see the tap, too. I don’t know what passed through her mind there, but I believe she quit at that time.”
Remember, Cyborg and Nunes first met at UFC 232 in December 2018, with Nunes knocking Cyborg out in the first round. There is no love lost here between the two, but with both women in different promotions, a rematch is unlikely to happen anytime soon unless one of the two decides to jump ship.
Do you agree with Cris Cyborg that Amanda Nunes quit against Julianna Pena at UFC 269?
