Amanda Nunes understands Dana White’s critique: ‘I gotta get my s—t together’

Amanda Nunes believes there’s some truth to Dana White’s recent comments regarding her drive to remain the best in the world.

UFC 269 in Dec. 2021 saw history made as Nunes suffered a shocking second round rear-naked choke submission loss to Julianna Pena, dropping her Bantamweight title in the process (watch full fight). The first round of the bout was business as usual for “The Lioness,” handily thumping away on “The Venezuelan Vixen.” However, the second round was a completely different story as the champion appeared quickly drained and began engaging in a slugfest that ultimately caused her demise.

Many takeaways have been shared about the performance in the time since. Perhaps the most controversial came from UFC President, Dana White, who expressed how Nunes is no longer the same “hungry savage” she was prior to her peaks as a dominant champion.

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“I feel like sometimes Dana says something and people really pick the little parts that’s gonna make him look bad,” Nunes told ESPN. “I feel like what he says sometimes, if you’re looking that way, yeah, I got very comfortable. And you want to enjoy your life when you do all those things that I did. I want to travel, I want to go see my family, I want to rest a little bit and then the thing is, you will slow down a little bit.

“When you do everything that I did, one day you’re going to relax a little bit,” she continued. “I did so much now, I can kind of rest a little bit. I was dominating, I became a double champion, killed all those girls in front of me, clean the division, so I kind of slowed down, too, yeah. Until Julianna came into the picture, now we’re here again. I’m really pumped for this fight and like Dana said, I gotta get my s—t together. I’m fired up now.”

Nunes will get the opportunity to right the wrongs made at UFC 269 against Pena this weekend (Sat., July 30, 2022) at UFC 277 in Dallas, Texas.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 277 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ABC/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 277: “Pena vs. Nunes 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.