If UFC women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena stays out of trouble for the next year, her recent assault charges will be dismissed.
UFC women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena was recently granted a stipulation order of continuance by the Spokane Municipal Court, meaning if her criminal record remains clean for the next year, her assault case will be dismissed. The news was first reported by MMAFighting.com on Tuesday afternoon.
“Frankly, in my view, charges should have ever been brought in the first instance,” Pena’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, told MMAFighting.com. “I don’t have any expectation that she’ll do anything other than comply with it and get the case dismissed.”
Pena was arrested and charged for two counts of assault this past December for allegedly fighting outside a bar in Spokane, Washington. A police report stated that, according to witnesses, Pena and her training partner Josh Gow attempted to enter Zola’s bar after being involved in a street fight. Gow’s face was bloodied up and they attempted to enter the bar to clean up, but were denied entry because the bar was closed. This caused the women’s bantamweight fighter to kick the bar owner and another employee in the groin, and was shortly after arrested. However, Pena has denied the police report’s allegations.
“The circumstances that led Julianna into the bar were that she was seeking medical attention for her friend,” Oreskovich said. “When it was denied, she reacted. Pretty simple. And things got out of control. I think there was some bad judgment all around.”
If Pena stays out of trouble until March 22, 2017, when the court officials will look back to Pena’s case, her charges will be dismissed.
Pena (7-2) returned from a lengthy layoff due to a devastating knee injury last year and picked up an impressive TKO win over Milana Dudieva. In her last outing, the TUF 18 winner picked up the biggest win of her career, a decision over top contender Jessica Eye.