Julianna Pena returns to action for the first time in 16 months when she steps inside the cage to take on Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 63 in April.
It has been a long road back, and it comes at the right time for the division.
Pena won the first female season of The Ultimate Fighter as a part of Miesha Tate’s team. She was not the favorite coming into that season, but she progressed further than any other cast member. TUF was a blessing for Pena. She developed her skills and ran through the competition.
After defeating Jessica Rakoczy for the TUF crown, Pena was scheduled to take on Jessica Andrade. She never got to take that fight, as she suffered a major knee injury. It was a complete wreck of her knee—the ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus were all damaged.
Her long-awaited return in Fairfax, Virginia could not come at a better time for the division.
The women’s bantamweight division is thin. It needs fighters.
How thin is it? Pena has one win in the UFC and has been out for 16 months, but she is still ranked in the Top 15. In the first four events of 2015, there has been exactly one women’s bantamweight fight (Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann at UFC 183). The division needs Pena to return to add depth.
Ronda Rousey, the champion of the division, has dominated all of her opposition. She is alone at the top of the division, and her list of credible challengers is dwindling. Rousey takes on Cat Zingano at the end of February at UFC 184, but after that, it is murky who is next in line.
Bethe Correia created an interesting storyline by beating Rousey‘s teammates, but Tate is calling her out for a fight. Holly Holm will co-main event UFC 184 in her first UFC fight. Other contenders such as Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis have already been ousted by Rousey in swift fashion.
Pena is not likely to jump right into a title fight if she defeats Dudieva, but her presence helps the division get another potential contender. She can join a list of credible contenders for an eliminator bout.
She is a fresh face—someone whom the UFC can market. The fans don’t have a memory of her being knocked out or submitted in the Octagon.
All of this depends, of course, on how she looks coming off the injury. If she returns to her post-TUF form, then she will be a bona fide top-10 bantamweight. She was still a very raw talent coming off the show, but she used her physical gifts well. She has had a lot of time to hone her craft.
Pena is a physically strong fighter with good power in her strikes. Her wrestling and jiu-jitsu are her best attributes, but her power makes her striking a concern for opposing fighters. Pena is an aggressive fighter who pressures her opponents. It makes her exciting.
The division needs more excitement.
Virginia will play host to her return, and a win should move her up the ranks quickly. This division has been starting to get stagnate, and Pena’s return comes at a time when it desperately needs more quality fighters.
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