Julianna Peña lost a “big chunk” of her forehead after a bloody title-fight loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 on Saturday night, according to UFC President Dana White.
White said Peña was immediately transported to a plastic surgeon after her forehead was split open over five rounds with Nunes — who won by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-43) in a “completely dominant” bout.
“Julianna’s got a big chunk missing from her forehead,” White said at a post-fight news conference. “She’s going to see a plastic surgeon right now. [She’ll] take some time to heal, and then I don’t know. She got pretty banged up tonight. It was like five or six knockdowns in the first two rounds. She was hurt. She needs to take some time off, relax, spend some time with her daughter [Isabella, 4] and then we’ll go from there.”
Peña, though, described the forehead wound a “cat scratch” in a post on Instagram that included a closeup of her bloody face.
“Tougher than a two dollar steak ,” the 32-year-old Peña wrote in the caption. “Thanks for the love everyone! Just a cat scratch that required a few stitches, no chunks missing, no surgery necessary. Love you all! We’re 1-1 now,” she wrote, referring to the standing in her trilogy fight with Nunes.
Nunes reclaimed the UFC women’s bantamweight title she lost to Peña at UFC 269 in December.
White said Nunes’ victory was a “complete shutout” over Peña.
“I thought it was completely dominant. There was five knockdowns in the first two rounds,” said White. “There’s a big difference between submission attempts and knockdowns. They’re not even comparable. Julianna’s tough as nails and her will to win is second-to-none. She wanted to win. I think as dominant as Amanda was – and she was dominant tonight – I didn’t think it was close in any way, shape or form. It was a complete shutout.” (NYPost)