Midnight Mania! The Future Of Bantamweight? ‘Cringey’ Peña Feuds With Barber

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Julianna Peña wants all the smoke.

With Amanda Nunes fully retired, the Bantamweight title remains vacant. Naturally, the absence of a champion produces a vacuum, and former roost ruler Peña is one of the front runners for a title shot. To help solidify her position, Peña hopped on The MMA Hour mic and called out or talked trash to basically all of her possible peers.

One of the surprising recipients of her ire was Maycee Barber, the Flyweight contender riding a five-fight win streak. The reason for her scorn? Barber deemed Peña’s antics during Nunes’ retirement at UFC 290 “cringey,” an accurate statement that “The Venezuelan Vixen” could not allow to stand.

“You got a problem with me running my mouth, Maycee?” Peña began (via MMAFighting). “Drink a protein shake and come up to 135 and you can get some smoke too. This girl has never fought for a world title. She’s supposed to be the youngest champion ever — that didn’t play out that well either — she’s losing to Roxanne Modafferi.”

It’s actually been 3.5 years since that “Peaceful Warrior” loss. In the interim, Barber’s built up a very nice win streak, most recently pummeling Amanda Ribas for a second-round knockout win. At one point, Peña was considering a move to Flyweight, so the size differential may not even be particularly substantial. Either way, Barber is game.

She replied on Twitter, “Looks like I’m moving up to 135 and Juliana wants to be 3-4 in the last six years.”

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Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.