Scoring the first finish of the night in her return to the win-column, The Ultimate Fighter 18 victor, Julianna ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ Pena stamped her bantamweight title aspirations via a late, third-round rear-naked choke win over verteran one-time title chaser, Sara McMann.
In a three-round affair jam-packed with grappler exchanages and scrambles, Pena and McMann entered the third frame possibly tied on the judge’s scorecards, however, Pena removed the three Octagon judges from the equation with a late rear-naked choke win.
Softening 40-year-old McMann with hammer-fists and well-placed ground strikes, Washington native, Pena eventually got both her hooks in before transitioning to a body-triangle. Patiently setting up herself for a rear-naked choke win, Pena scored the tap from McMann, before calling for a bantamweight title clash against two-weight world champion, the dominant Amanda ‘The Lioness’ Nunes.
Below, catch the highlights from Pena’s submission win over McMann at UFC 257.