Julianna Pena News

Tom Taylor - January 16, 2017

On January 28, the UFC will return to Fox with an exciting card. This card will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight contender bout between TUF winner Julianna Peña and Kyrgyzstani striker Valentina Shevchenko. In advance of this high-stakes fight, which is likely to produce the next challenger for champion Amanda Nunes, Peña says that she hopes fans are grateful that she accepted the fight, as she believes she’d already be scheduled for a title shot if she’d opted to wait rather than stay active. Peña explained this feeling in an interview with BloodyElbow.com.

bjpenndotcom - January 14, 2017

Top ranked UFC women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena has continued to make waves in interviews as she has continued her verbal onslaught of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey leading up to, and in the wake, of Rousey’s return to the Octagon at UFC 207. Prior to Rousey’s return at UFC 207, Pena called out Ronda Rousey in numerous interviews in hopes of securing a fight with the former champ when she returned to the Octagon given their beef when Pena was competing on The Ultimate Fighter. After Rousey stepped into the cage with Amanda Nunes and was TKOd in just 48 seconds, Pena continued her verbal onslaught of the former champ despite the fact that she is currently booked to fight Valentina Shevchenko at ‘UFC Fight Night: Denver’ later this month.

bjpenndotcom - January 11, 2017

Julianna Pena is currently on quite the win streak in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division, winning four straight fights, three of which coming since she made her return to the Octagon following an injury layoff from 2013-2015. Most recently, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ competed at UFC 200, where she picked up a dominant unanimous decision win over Cat Zingano. While the win cemented Pena’s place near the top of the UFC’s bantamweight division on the UFC’s official rankings, Pena is currently slated for a bantamweight #1 contender fight against Valentina Shevchenko at ‘UFC Fight Night: Denver’ on January 28th. Going into the fight, it’s no secret that the winner could very well see themselves earn a title fight with women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - January 11, 2017

In a few short weeks, in the main event of the UFC’s latest Fox broadcast, The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Julianna Pena will battle fellow bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko. The winner of this fight is more than likely to get the next shot at reigning bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes. While Pena is obviously eager for her long-awaited crack at UFC gold, she explained on a recent episode of Brian Stann’s radio show Toe-2-Toe on SiriusXM Rush that she wishes the bantamweight crown was still owned by former champion Ronda Rousey. Apparently, Pena has wanted to fight Rousey since her days on The Ultimate Fighter 18– a season Rousey coached. The top-ranked bantamweight also feels that Rousey has been avoiding her.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

With Miesha Tate retired and Holly Holm on a two-fight losing streak, Julianna Peña and Valentina Shevchenko stand out as the two best female bantamweights on earth outside of Amanda Nunes and Ronda Rousey. According to a Monday afternoon report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, they could soon be pitted against each other. Not officially done quite yet, but hearing some very good vital signs regarding a fight between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko.

bjpenndotcom - October 19, 2016

Julianna Pena has been on a tear of the women’s bantamweight division as of late, going on a 4-fight win streak that has seen her go on a 4-fight win streak over the course of the past 3 years. After winning ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Season 18’, Pena was forced to take two years away from competition. In her return fight back in the Octagon at ‘UFC Fight Night: Fairfax’, Pena picked up an impressive TKO win over Milana Dudieva to earn herself a performance of the night bonus.

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2016

On December 30, in the main event of UFC 207, Ronda Rousey will return to action for the first time since she chowed down on a Holly Holm head-kick in November of 2015. The former bantamweight champion will make this comeback opposite Amanda Nunes, the woman who now wears the division’s belt. News of Rousey’s long-awaited comeback drove the MMA community into a frenzy of excitement. Whether you love her or hate her, at least she’s fighting again.

bjpenndotcom - October 13, 2016

Over the course of the last several months, #5 ranked women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena has been very adamant about either getting a title fight with bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, or being the woman to welcome Ronda Rousey back to the Octagon. This week, it was announced that Rousey would be returning to the Octagon at UFC 207 on December 30th, where she will be given an immediate title shot against Amanda Nunes. That didn’t sit too well with Pena, who has been on a tear of the women’s bantamweight division, going on a 4-fight win streak that saw her win ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate’ back in 2013, before returning to the UFC in 2015 and going on a 3-fight win streak that most recently saw her defeat Cat Zingano at UFC 200.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Julianna Peña has not been quiet about her right to a title shot. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ has won four UFC fights in a row, Peña seems poised for a shot at Amanda Nunes’ belt, however  with the specter of Ronda Rousey’s possible return to the woman’s bantamweight division, Peña’s path to the belt becomes a bit more complicated. Peña sounded off on the landscape of the woman’s 135 pound weight class and her case for a chance at UFC gold while on Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour:

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

The rumors of Ronda Rousey facing champion Amanda Nunes for her comeback fight did not settle well with fellow woman’s bantamweight contender Julianna Peña. Since Rousey lost the belt, three other women have held it. First, Miesha Tate defeated Holm by submission at UFC 196, who in turn dropped the belt to Nunes by first round TKO at UFC 200.

bjpenndotcom - September 16, 2016

Julianna Pena is looking for a fight! ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ is currently riding a 4-fight win streak that most recently saw her pick up a unanimous decision win over Cat Zingano at UFC 200 in July. Pena, who is ranked at #5 on the UFC’s official women’s bantamweight rankings behind Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, and Holly Holm, took to social media with quite the message for Nunes:

bjpenndotcom - August 13, 2016

#5 ranked UFC women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena is doing her best to secure a fight with former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. The former TUF 18 contestant released a video earlier this week, in which she bashed the former champ and her “fat arms”. The video certainly got Pena’s name in headlines, however she also received criticism for body shaming Rousey.

bjpenndotcom - August 2, 2016

Earlier this month, when Amanda Nunes defeated Miesha Tate to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, it was revealed that Ronda Rousey could receive an immediate title shot against the newly crowed champ. While there was no word on whether or not Rousey would take the offer, news has now surfaced that the UFC is unsure of whether or not Rousey will come back.

Chris Taylor - July 10, 2016

Julianna Pena earned an impressive decision victory over former title challenge Cat Zingano in the featured bout of last night’s UFC 200 prelims. During last night’s UFC 200 post-fight press conference, Pena stated her case for why she should be next to challenge newly crowned champion Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title: