UFC President Dana White was ecstatic after UFC 314. Yes, the event appeared to be a major financial success with a reported $11.5 million live gate at the Kaseya Center in Miami, but the rumored return of a legend may have also had something to do with White’s happiness.
During a media scrum after UFC 314, former UFC women’s featherweight and bantamweight champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee Amanda Nunes announced she is coming back to fight.
“The UFC is my house,” Nunes said. “That is my cage. I am the Lioness. I’m back and ready to go.” You may not ever hear a more definitive statement from a fighter coming out of retirement.
While Nunes is on track to face the winner of the battle between Julianna Peña and Kayla Harrison at UFC 316, it seems clear the Lioness is rooting for the latter to dethrone her old rival.
“I feel like the whole thing with Kayla Harrison motivated me a lot too,” Nunes admitted. “So, she got in the UFC and it was a big thing. You know she used to talk about me all the time in interviews and all those things. And I said, you know what; I don’t have any injuries. I’m good. I’m still training and I’m still healthy. So why not? It’s a good challenge. And my whole life; my whole career, I move with challenges. I love that feeling. The challenge, the threat. This is good. Kayla brings a threat to this division, and I love to be in the mix of that.”
Here is a look at the entire interview.
Nunes will be 37 by the time she’s able to challenge for the title. Her 37th birthday is next month.
That said, she is not that much older than the women on her radar. Peña turns 36 in August, and Harrison will be 35 in July. In some ways, Nunes’ absence from the game could give her a little bit of an edge, as she has been able to rest her body and mind before heading back into combat.
Peña split her two fights with Nunes.
Back in December 2021, Peña dethroned Nunes, defeating her via second-round submission to capture the title. In the rematch, Nunes regained the belt and evened the score with a unanimous decision victory in July 2022.
Peña has wanted a third fight with Nunes since she lost the rematch. She was memorably in attendance for Nunes’ last fight, a unanimous decision win over Irene Aldana in June 2023.
Nunes retired in the Octagon, but while fans and others cheered, Peña stood in the crowd and booed her rival. She immediately accused Nunes of ducking their trilogy fight. Now, she has to defeat Harrison to get the fight she’s felt she has deserved for two years.
It’s an interesting three-person storyline that should play out pretty quickly considering Nunes, Peña, nor Harrison figure to be long for this game.
In case you missed it, here are the results from UFC 314.
UFC 314 Results
- Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes via unanimous decision (49-46×2, 48-47)
- Paddy Pimblett def. Michael Chandler via third-round TKO
- Yair Rodríguez def. Patrício Pitbull via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Jean Silva def. Bryce Mitchell via second-round submission (Ninja Choke)
- Dominick Reyes def. Nikita Krylov via first-round KO
- Dan Ige def. Sean Woodson via third-round TKO
- Virna Jandiroba def. Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Chase Hooper def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
- Julian Erosa def. Darren Elkins via second-round TKO
- Michał Oleksiejczuk def. Sedriques Dumas via first-round TKO
- Sumudaerji def. Mitch Raposo via split decision (29-28×2, 28-29)
- Marco Tulio def. Tresean Gore via second-round TKO
- Nora Cornolle def. Hailey Cowan via first-round submission
