Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Julianna Peña has confirmed how when she makes her return from injury which ruled her from a June title trilogy fight with Amanda Nunes – she will meet the victor of January’s incoming vacant championship fight after UFC 297.
Peña, the current number one ranked bantamweight contender, has been sidelined since she suffered a hugely one-sided unanimous decision loss to former two-weight titleholder, the recently retired, Nunes back in July of last year, suffering a rematch loss to the Brazilian.
Scheduled to return at UFC 289 back in June of this year in Canada, Washington native, Peña was forced out of a trilogy rubber match with Nunes after suffering fractured ribs during a training session ahead of the bout, before being replaced by Mexican challenger, Irene Aldana.
And overnight, reports revealed how the promotion is set to hold a vacant bantamweight title fight between former title chaser, Raquel Pennington, and surging contender, Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297 next January in Toronto, Canada – in the first flagship event of the year.
Julianna Peña confirms title fight in her return to the UFC next year
Reacting to news of Pennington booking a title fight with Bueno Silva, The Ultimate Fighter victor, Peña claimed she would be fighting for the bantamweight championship against the victor of the UFC 297 in her return to the Octagon.
“I’m injured,” Julianna Peña told Ariel Helwani overnight. “I will fight the winner. My next fight will be for a title. Guaranteed. I feel bad. Not for myself, but for the fans that are being force fed this horrible fight [between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva]. What a disaster.”
Shocking the mixed martial arts community back in December 2021, Peña turned in a spectacular upset win over the above-mentioned, Nunes, defeating the Bahia native with a stunning second round rear-naked choke submission win to mint herself as the undisputed bantamweight champion.
Do you expect to see Julianna Peña fight for the bantamweight title in her UFC return?