Julianna Pena: Amanda Nunes said trilogy fight is 'all up to you, it's all in your hands' with UFC 316

Julianna Peña has another chance to spoil the UFC's potential plans.

With UFC 316 only a month away, the two-time UFC bantamweight champion is hard at work preparing for her next title challenger, Kayla Harrison. But Peña still has time for her old rival Amanda Nunes, who made her presence felt at the event's kickoff press conference in April. Midway through the proceedings, former two-division champion Nunes seemingly indicated that she'll end her retirement after Peña vs. Harrison to presumably fight the winner.

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Speaking on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," Peña revealed that she and "The Lioness" then shared a brief exchange backstage after the presser.

"She was pretty pleasant in terms of afterward," Peña said. "I thought that we were going to have some words and talk, but the security guards were doing a big job of keeping us separated and making sure that we were not able to be very close to one another.

"She told me though, 'It's all up to you. It's all in your hands, and everything will be decided and everything is going to be determined by you and what you do.' So, she's basically saying, 'I will grant you the trilogy, pending that you take care of your business on June 7.' And that's exactly what I'm prepared [to do] — and will do."

In vintage Peña fashion, she mockingly claimed to have thanked Nunes after the exchange.

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The rivals are 1-1 in their two-fight series, which started in December 2021 when Peña pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history with a second-round rear-naked choke of Nunes to capture the title. Their sequel arrived roughly seven months later and wasn't nearly as competitive — Nunes dominated Pena en route to a unanimous decision to reclaim the bantamweight crown, then retired one defense later after defeating Irene Aldana in June 2023.

Nunes vs. Aldana was originally supposed to be the trilogy match between Nunes and Peña, however Peña ultimately was unable to make the date due to a bad shoulder injury. Peña infamously booed Nunes from the crowd during her retirement announcement, and has since maintained that Nunes would always make a comeback.

"I was always expecting it," Peña said. "I literally said it. I went over there to Vancouver, watched her lay down her gloves, and told everybody what a liar she was and booed her the entire time because I knew that she wasn't going to be fully retired.

"That's the thing — I hate this whole, 'I'm retiring. I'm done.' If you're going to retire, stay retired. I don't understand why fighters always retire and then come back. What is the point? Somebody hand this girl the Oscar because she had everybody like, 'It's over.' I'm like, 'No, it's not. She's way too young, she's not going to be done, she doesn't know what her life is outside of fighting, and she's going to get bored and she's going to want to come back and fight again.' Now that the limelight is not on her, and it's on Kayla and I, she sees that. I know that she's itching and scratching to get back in there."

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Had Nunes won the first Peña fight, history may have worked in fast-forward, as Harrison was a free agent with PFL at the time and was openly eyeing a potential shot at Nunes for her UFC debut.

Peña spoiled those plans, however. And now, four years later, Peña once again realizes she's the roadblock to making one of the biggest on-paper fights in recent women's bantamweight history.

"[Nunes] is sitting there watching me do her dirty work like a lazy broad that she is," Peña said. "It's absolutely ridiculous. But whatever. She's going to do whatever she needs to do, and at the end of the day, Amanda is not my focus. Amanda is the furthest thing from my mind right now. I have a rhinoceros coming to fight me on June 7, and I need — and will — be 1,010% prepared for when that happens. So it's one thing at a time for me.

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"It was told to me, 'Amanda wants nothing to do with you. She wants absolutely nothing to do with you. She hates Kayla. She feels like she has nothing to prove against you, and that she hates Kayla more than she feels she wants to fight you.' If she comes back, it's to fight Kayla only. When she sees that chaotic mess that she's going to see on June 7, she's not going to want to get back in there again and do it all over again. She'll probably stay 'retired.' But we'll see."

Just as there's never been a shortage of banter between Peña and Nunes, the same can be said for Peña and Harrison as they continue to build toward fight night in Newark, New Jersey.

Although Harrison has shown intermittent respect for Peña, she's also admitted it's difficult because, in her words, Peña is "pretty dumb sometimes."

Upon hearing Harrison's sentiment, Peña was amused.

"I think it's funny because I think she came on the show and said that I had no skills, and then I saw another interview like two weeks ago that said she was preparing for Godzilla," Peña said. "So make up your mind — do I have no skills or are you preparing for Godzilla? Which is it? What am I? I'm 'Momzilla,' get it right. And just so you know, when you watch the movie 'Godzilla vs. King Kong,' Godzilla wins. So, thank you for the compliment. Talk about dumb. Get a clue, girl."

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Harrison has been flawless in her two UFC fights ahead of the Peña matchup, dispatching former UFC champion Holly Holm and divisional stalwart Ketlen Vieira.

Weight concerns have been recurrent with each of Harrison's bantamweight fights, and her title bout is no different, with Peña labeling the former PFL lightweight champion as a weight bully. Although Harrison has yet to hit the exact 135-pound championship mark, Peña doesn't expect any issues on the scale.

"She's a professional, and I have no doubts that she's going to make the weight," Peña said. "Does it suck? Is it mentally and physically and emotionally taxing? Absolutely, but that's what you get when you try to be a weight bully and cut 50 pounds in order to make the weight class.

"So she's in for a long night at the office, and not only that, but just take into consideration her first fight at 135 pounds going 25 minutes. It's going to be very grueling and taxing, and at this point, it's like, how are you going to win? You might be able to lay on top of me for one round, but after that? The longer that the fight goes on is just better for me. I got the gas tank, I got the cardio."