Julianna Pena takes aim at “horrible” Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva title fight at UFC 297
Julianna Pena has taken a shot at the upcoming Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva title fight at UFC 297.
Over the course of the last few years, Julianna Pena hasn’t been in the business of making friends. She told the world she would defeat Amanda Nunes and capture the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, and that’s exactly what she did.
Alas, after losing the belt, Pena is now left to watch as Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva battle for the vacant strap at UFC 297. While many feel as if she will eventually be the rightful champion, there’s still plenty of work to be done before she gets back there.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Pena made her thoughts on the aforementioned matchup crystal clear.
Pena criticizes title fight
“I’m sorry that you guys are going to be force-fed this horrible interim title fight,” Peña said. “It’s going to be interim. They’re just keeping it warm. They’re belt warming until I come back. Mama’s coming back, so apologies for the fact that I cannot compete, but I will be back fighting. My next fight will be for a title, so whoever wins between those two chicks, I’ll be fighting the winner.”
“I’m going to give a little bit of a shine to Raquel because I feel like over time, she has gotten better and better as time goes on,” Peña said. “She’s definitely a durable fighter. She’s capable of being a champion and getting that belt, so I would say that Raquel has the veteran-ness on her side.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
While she did praise Pennington, Pena also went on to note that she believes a fight with Silva would be the more exciting of the two, indicating that the build-up would be “like crickets” with Raquel.
Do you agree with Julianna Pena? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!
