Julianna Pena plans to make a statement with her fists and words in her UFC on FOX 23 main event against Valentina Shevechenko.
With a big headlining fight against Valentina Shevechenko this weekend on FOX, Julianna Pena is on the very cusp of a UFC women’s bantamweight title shot. With victory on Saturday already assured in her mind, the only thing that could throw a wrench in her quest for gold is current champ Amanda Nunes’ desire to emulate Conor McGregor and fight for the newly created women’s 145 pound belt.
That doesn’t sit right with Pena, who voiced her displeasure with the situation during a media scrum earlier today.
“I think there’s a lot of competition left at 135 pounds that she should maybe consider [fighting] before trying to run to another division,” Pena said. “God willing, I get past this fight and I’m unbeaten in UFC, and I’d rather if I was the champion clean out my own division before going to a different division. If there was an undefeated girl fighting at 135 pounds, I would want to test my skills against her. But, if that’s not the way that she wants it, so long as all of you guys know what the truth is, that’s all that matters.”
“I don’t wanna fight no tomato cans, no hand picked fights,” she said. “I’m a tough fighter and I want to prove myself against the best in the world so I can prove to myself that I am truly the best in the world. Being that Cat Zingano beat the brakes off Nunes and I dominated Cat Zingano, I think it’s fair to say that I can hang with anyone that walks around at 135 pounds inside that Octagon.”
An interesting application of MMA math. But with a decisive victory over the #1 ranked Shevechenko, we’d have enough data points to confirm her statement. Pena has done an excellent job of getting us to pay attention with some of the crazy things she’s said and done outside the cage. All she needs now is to throw down in the Octagon on Saturday night and win her fight.
And just in case winning isn’t enough, she’ll have some more of that verbal fire ready to throw following the fight.
“I’ve thought a lot about the post fight [interview],” she admitted with a sly smile. “And if I get this win, you guys are in for a treat.”
If it’s anything as harsh as the stuff she’s been saying about Ronda Rousey lately, this could be just as good as Nate Diaz’s infamous call out of Conor McGregor.