Athletes
Julianna Peña Is Here To Remind You
Former Bantamweight Champion Looks To Reclaim Her Throne Against Raquel Pennington At UFC 307 In Salt Lake City
World, meet Julianna Pena.
She’s The Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner and a former world bantamweight champion who has defeated the likes of Amanda Nunes, Cat Zingano, Jessica Eye, Sara McMann and Jessica Rakoczy. She’s also the mom of six-year-old Isabella.
You probably already know this by now, so let’s just say I’m doing it for the sake of the former champ, who thinks you all forgot about her while she’s been on the sidelines the last two-plus years.
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“I would say the biggest thing that I hate about taking this amount of time off is that the fans have forgotten you and they don't remember you anymore,” said Pena. “So I feel like I have to climb back up and claw my way back up just to remind everybody, hello, I'm still here and I am who I say I am. And you're going to have to be reminded. And that's my job to remind them. But sometimes I just wish I wouldn't have to remind them.”
Spoiler alert, the fans haven’t forgotten “The Venezuelan Vixen,” and the UFC certainly hasn’t forgotten her because she’s in the UFC 307 co-main event, fighting for the UFC women’s bantamweight title against Raquel Pennington.
So, everybody remembers Pena. The question is, will being out since the loss of her title to Nunes in July of 2022 have Pena stepping into the Octagon as that fighter we remember?
“There's always those people that talk about ring rust and all that stuff, and there's got to be some truth to that, but I have constantly had these breaks, whether it be injuries or pregnancy or things that have kept me out of the sport for years on end,” she said. “And then, when I come back, all is well again. So I don't ever look at it like, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven't competed in two years. What am I going to do?’ I'm like, this is just the way that it is. And when I get there, I'll do what I know how to do instinctually, and everything will be fine, and the chips are going to fall how they fall. But, I don't look at it like, ‘Ah, panic, ring rust.’ I just look at it as, yeah, I had to take the time off and that's just the way that it is. And I'm not going to think too much about it or broadcast it or highlight it because, at the end of the day, I know I can fight and when that cage door closes, I'm going to give them hell or die trying and everybody knows that.”
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That’s why no one will forget Pena. There’s a tenacity to her when the Octagon door closes that reminds you that beyond all the bright lights, the rules, and the sporting aspect of this, that what happens in there is a fight. And the 35-year-old Spokane native has always been a fighter. That was never more evident than on December 11, 2021, when, as a prohibitive underdog, she put it on the G.O.A.T. of female combat sports, Nunes, and took her title. Sure, Pena lost the rematch, but the first win was no fluke. That’s the fight and talent she brings to the table, and while Pennington enters Saturday’s bout as the favorite, there are just as many people who see it the other way around. Pena is one of them, but she’s not about to get caught up in getting overconfident.
“That's exactly the problem that I've faced in the past,” she admits. “When I fought Valentina Shevchenko, I was kicking her ass and I punched myself into a submission. I lost myself that fight. And then the same thing with Germaine de Randamie. I'm thinking, how am I going to stand up with this kickboxer who's 12-feet tall and has been kickboxing since she was three years old? What am I going to do? I had that chick backing up the entire time, and I was so overzealous that I just got caught. And all of a sudden, I'm waking up, looking at the lights and flopping like a fish. I am handing these losses to myself and giving these wins away to these girls just by being stupid. But I feel like I've made those mistakes. I've done those errors to the point where it's like, I'm not going to get so hasty. I've been thinking about this fight for 18 months. All I have to do is just show up and be me and do my job, and the rest should take care of itself. I won’t be making those JV mistakes again. And I believe that the rest will take care of itself.”
As for the underdog role, Pena has been there and done that, and she doesn’t mind it because this underdog bites.
“I've always been the underdog,” she said. “I'll take that slot. You go ahead and label me whatever you want. When that cage door closes, I am willing to die to get my hand raised. And I don't think that Raquel has as much of that desire that I have, as much of that hunger and that want, and that competitiveness that I do.”
Could Pennington have lost that edge after working for so long and so hard for the belt and finally reaching the top of the mountain with her win over Mayra Bueno Silva in January? It’s possible, and it’s happened to fighters before. Did Pena experience that phenomenon after beating Nunes?
FREE FIGHT: Julianna Peña vs Amanda Nunes 1
“No, I didn't,” Pena said. “My suffering from the title is wanting everything too soon. I would say that she's probably been smart for the fact that she's been laid off since January and been making me wait in order to fight her. (With Nunes) I was like, ‘Oh, you want to rematch? I'll give it to you tomorrow.’ And I was just so confident that I turned around in less than six months in order to just prove something to everyone, and I didn't have anything to prove. I felt like I put myself in the corner instead of being like, ‘Nah, I'll sit on it for a year just like everybody else does.’ And so I don't think that Raquel is, by any means, doing the wrong thing, but I will say that if she was doing the right thing, you would hear from her more. If she had that desire to represent the UFC and be the UFC champion and wanting to be the face of women's MMA, she would be out there more, promoting more, talking more, just doing the things that champions should do in order to represent the company. And I haven't seen that from her. And I think that that's because that's my role and it's time for me to go back into my rightful spot.”
So the champ is here?
“I might not have that official title, but, for me, in my head, walking around and going everywhere, I am the champion, and I feel that way.”
Unforgettable.
UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr., took place live from Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 5, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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