Here is the Fightful MMA News & Notes For 6/10/23…
- Julianna Pena says she is Amanda Nunes’ biggest fan at UFC 289:
“I’m not done with her,” Pena said during the UFC 289 Fan Q&A (transcript via Matthew Wells & Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “This is unfinished business and I’m actually here to make sure that from 9-10 p.m. tomorrow on Saturday, only from 9-10 p.m. on Saturday, not 10:01. From 9-10, I will be rooting for Amanda Nunes. I will be her one biggest fan in the world and after that, you’re going to see the biggest turncoat you’ve ever seen.”
- Jorge Masvidal says Jake Paul needs to be concerned about Nate Diaz’s boxing skills:
“Nate’s definitely going to have the experience over you, and he’s got crazy endurance,” Masvidal told Jake Paul on BS w/ Jake Paul (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I think the opening round is going to tell me a lot. … He’s got great cardio, and I think especially in boxing, he’s going to make an easy transition. I would think out of all the categories you could have in martial arts, boxing is something that comes very natural to him. I think he’s going to be a decent boxer.”
- Valentina Shevchenko says she has started preparing for the rematch with Alexa Grasso:
“I’m getting ready for the rematch and I know what I have to do,” Shevchenko said during the UFC 289 Fan Q&A (transcript via Nolan King & Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “Yeah, I’m just getting ready. I’m refocused and retaking (in) everything. I am in this fight in martial arts for so long, like 30 years. For 30 years, people (usually) have three careers in martial arts. But I’m still here. I’m still saying I’m the best. I’ll have my chance to say it again when I fight next Alexa.
“For me, she’s a great fighter. She did what she did in the fight, but she is a chance fighter. During the fight, (she is) doing not much, conserving the energy, and waiting for a chance. But actually, if there is no chance, there is no victory. I know she’s going to be ready for this exact chance. But the question, if she will be given this chance? No.”
- MMA Junkie is reporting that Austin Vanderford vs. Imamshafi Aliev and Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov has been pulled from Bellator 297.
- Mayra Bueno Silva says she wants a title shot after beating Holly Holm:
“When I knock her out, I’m next for the belt,” Bueno Silva told MMA Junkie. “The UFC fans need more respect. Nobody wants to watch Amanda and Julianna Peña anymore. The UFC fans need a new face. Mayra ‘Sheetara’ is the new face, and when I knock her out, I’m next for the belt.”
- Julianna Pena says Amanda Nunes isn’t a draw:
“Ronda [Rousey] had such a massive following. She was main-eventing everything. And then if you go to Amanda’s last seven fights, she’s only main-evented twice,” Peña said during the UFC 289 Fan Q&A (transcript via MMA Fighting). “One of them was because of an injury ... and the second one was me — and this third one was going to be me but I had to fall out due to injury myself. Me beating her made her relevant again because she hasn’t had the ability to main event in any of her title fights.
“In the last seven, literally only two main events. If you look at the Countdown numbers, if you look at the Embedded numbers — I mean, the co-main event has seven times more views than Amanda’s and she’s the main event. So she can’t draw flies. I’m just saying.”
- Maria Oliveira explains why she competed on a reality show before fighting at UFC 289:
“I was invited to be on [popular reality TV show] A Fazenda last year but went to a fight and lost [to Vanessa Demopoulos],” Oliveira said on the Trocação Franca podcast (transcript via Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting). “This time I had a fight booked but decided to take the risk. I knew there were two stages on the show so I didn’t cancel the fight. If I didn’t make it to the mansion, I’d fight, and that’s what I did.
“I kind of shot myself in the foot because it gave me less time to train. I normally do a two-month camp, but came back to the gym [on May 24]. But I’m happy. It was a crazy decision that from the bottom of my heart I don’t regret because it was a learning experience.”