Conor McGregor's defeat to Nate Diaz comparable to Amanda Nunes' submission loss against Julianna Pena, insists Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen recently compared Amanda Nunes' submission loss against Julianna Pena to that of Conor McGregor against Nate Diaz.

Sonnen stated that athletes, especially fighters, often break when they give their best but their opponents absorb their shots.

According to the former multi-time UFC title challenger, nothing is more detrimental to a fighter's confidence than that. They often seek a way out when that happens, just like Amanda Nunes did at UFC 269. Here's what Sonnen said on his YouTube channel:

"Amanda lost a position in that match. And we talk about it all the time. If you ever find yourself in a fight that's harder than you thought it was going to be, nothing will unravel an athlete quicker than that mentally. Nothing will mentally rattle and start to wind an athlete down and make them want to quit and sail it in and try another night."

Julianna Pena took Amanda Nunes' best shots at UFC 269 and walked through them and eventually secured a second-round submission win. Every other opponent of 'The Lioness' who has been hit by those shots has folded.

The same happened with Conor McGregor at UFC 196. He hit Diaz with some massive shots on multiple occasions. However, the Stockton native is a bigger fighter and has a granite chin.

He kept taking those shots which eventually broke McGregor's confidence. The Irishman eventually suffered a submission loss. Sonnen compared the two fights as he added:

"Amanda hit Julianna Pena as hard as she could in the face repeatedly. Every other time in Amanda's career, where she has hit somebody as hard as she can in the face, that person went down and the fight was over. Conor McGregor is the closest that has ever come and said what I just said and admitted it to the audience. It was his first fight with Nate Diaz. But that's exactly what happened. Conor hit Nate with missiles that put everybody else down."

Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes 2 is set to to go down at UFC 277

The rematch between Pena and Nunes has been booked for UFC 277. Pena will put her bantamweight title on the line against the former two-division champion.

'The Venezuelan Vixen' will be determined to prove that her win in the first fight was not a one-off incident. Another win would further solidify her status as the best 135 pounder in the world.

For Amanda Nunes, her legacy is on the line. She is widely considered the greatest women fighter of all time. 'The Lioness' will look to re-establish that status with a win in their rematch at UFC 277.