Belal Muhammad thinks the scorecards arenât reflective of Julianna Penaâs effort against Amanda Nunes.
Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) was dethroned by Nunes (22-5 MMA, 15-2 UFC) in a lopsided unanimous decision this past Saturday at UFC 277 in Dallas and lost the womenâs bantamweight title in a rematch.
It was a tough and gritty showing from Peña, who never stopped fighting and throwing up submissions from bottom position. But Nunes landed multiple knockdowns and takedowns and bloodied and battered âThe Venezuelan Vixen.â In her post-fight press conference, Nunes said she could have finished Peña, but decided not to in order to prove their first fight was a fluke.
Muhammad, Peñaâs teammate, calls shenanigans.
âThereâs moments in the fight where Julianna could have won that fight,â Muhammad said on his Instagram. âAmanda, I felt like, is getting too cocky. Sheâs getting too arrogant saying, âI could have finished her in the first round if I wanted to, but I wanted to go five rounds so I could show her whoâs better,â blah, blah, blah. Get out of here with that. You couldnât finish her.
âI think Amanda started taking her down in the third, fourth and fifth round because she didnât want to get caught again on the feet. She knows that Julianna punches hard, her eye was very swollen, she was on crutches leaving. So, she was definitely in a fight. It wasnât a dominating fight like a lot of people are making it out to be.â
With their rivalry now tied at 1-1 after Peña upset Nunes with a submission finish at UFC 269, followed by Nunesâ win in the rematch, Muhammad thinks it only makes sense that a third fight happens.
âJulianna won the first fight by finish, Amanda Nunes didnât,â Muhammad said. âSo thatâs why it deserves a trilogy fight. You could say what the score was: 50-44, 50-43, but that doesnât talk about the whole fight.â
Teammate shills for teammate. What do you expect?
Belal Muhammad has just digitally remastered the correct.
But Julianna shouldnât get a 3rd fight.
Belal is correct
Lol @ Belal talking shit about finishes
phunny
16 UFC fights and 12 decisions for Belal.
Only Belal can make me side with a chick fighter
LolâŠtrue
Peña never looked for an exit and she fought until the end. She deserves respect. If Amanda couldâve finished her she wouldâve. Youâve got to be a stupid mother fucker to risk your money and health and the title trying to prove a point to a champion cage fighter in a title fight. If you couldâve finished whenever you wanted then finish in the fifth if youâre trying to beat her ass first. Amanda beat her ass but the finish wasnât there. If she was so easy to finish in the first, she woulda been.
Anyone think that she got someone on her behalf to bet on Peña to win, and cashed in for some extra retirement money
What do you mean Boyd? Peña didnât win
The first fight.
The odds were huge on a Peña win.
And some ppl believe nunes may have cashed in
Gotcha
She did look off. Itâs not impossible but I think she ran into a tough fight that she took lightly.
Itâd be hard. Youâre not smarter than a bookie and theyâll do anything they can to legally void a big winning bet. Itâs doable, but you couldnât bet enough to make it worth it without some big conspiracy with multiple bettors and somebody always ends up spilling the beans.
Any fighter that says, âI couldâve finished them, but I wanted to beat them up for 5 roundsâ, or whatever the reason may be, is absolute horseshite! If you couldâve finished them, you wouldâve. Especially in the UFC whereâs thereâs bonuses involved.
Just like all the idiots that said Floyd couldâve finished Conor in the first, but he wanted to carry him to put on a show for the fans and make it interesting. Horseshite again!
If you couldâve, you wouldâve.
Horseshite I tell ya! Hoooooooorseshiiiiiiiiiiite!!!