Amanda Nunes says Julianna Peña is straight-up "delusional" for thinking she's gonna take a belt off the champ-champ ... but the Lioness tells TMZ Sports that doesn't mean she's sleeping on the Venezuelan Vixen's skills in the Octagon.
We talked to the 33-year-old UFC star just days before her big UFC 269 fight with Peña ... and Nunes is ready to goooo.
"[Julianna] is delusional, but it doesn't mean I'm not taking her seriously. I do. I trained very hard and very smart, I'm very sharp for her. A lot of things she says are not true, she's being delusional."
We also asked Nunes, a heavy favorite in the fight, how she envisioned beating Peña.
"Honestly I don't see this fight going to the judges at all. Honestly. I'm very sharp. I know she's gonna make a lot of mistakes like she always does."
Amanda added ... "I know I'm gonna catch her many times."
As you might suspect, 32-year-old Peña -- the #3 ranked bantamweight -- believes Amanda isn't taking her seriously ... telling us that's a mistake because she's coming to win.
"I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on me and they think I'm a sacrificial lamb but I definitely think that, you know, I know that I'm definitely not a sacrificial lamb and everyone loves an underdog," Peña told us.
There's more ... we also talked to Amanda and her wife, fellow UFC star Nina Nunes about their adorable baby daughter, Reagan.
Amanda and Nina say Reagan LOVES going to the gym to watch her moms train ... so, we asked if her star fighter parents would approve of their baby girl fighting when she grows up -- and the answer was very interesting.