Julianna Pena thinks you won’t respect her regardless of UFC 316 outcome

Julianna Pena believes she won’t be given respect if she defeats Kayla Harrison at UFC 316.

Pena is set to put the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at stake against Harrison on Saturday. The title fight will be held inside the Prudential Center in Newark. Pena is in her second reign as the 135-pound titleholder and she’s looking for her first successful title defense.

“The Venezuelan Vixen” isn’t expecting her due if she can score a huge upset over the challenger.

RELATED: UFC 316 COMMENTATOR WARNS FANS NOT TO OVERLOOK JULIANNA PENA IN TITLE DEFENSE AGAINST KAYLA HARRISON

Pena Doubts She’ll Gain Respect Following UFC 316

Ahead of UFC 316, Julianna Pena admitted that she doesn’t anticipate getting credit from anyone if she defeats Harrison (via MMAFighting).

“I thought beating the greatest of all time [Amanda Nunes] was going to give me that respect and it didn’t, so you never know,” Peña said. “I say this often, but it’s so true, it’s never enough. It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s never enough. Everybody’s always going to want more from you.”

Pena is a huge underdog going into her title defense on Saturday. The two-time UFC titleholder explained why being in the underdog role plays in her favor.

“It was told to me that I’m a 6-to-1 underdog and being a 6-to-1 underdog as a champion is very disrespectful, No. 1,” Peña said. “No. 2, everybody’s counting me out. Out of six people, only one of them thinks that I’m going to win the fight and that is putting me in a position where since you think I’m going to lose in five seconds and you think that I’m already out of this fight, then I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

BJPenn.com will be providing live coverage of UFC 316 this weekend. Be sure to check back on our homepage on Friday for weigh-in results. Then on Saturday, join us for live UFC 316 results and video highlights. We’ll also keep you up to date in the aftermath of UFC 316 on Sunday.