Tag: Julianna Pena

Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko Rematch Targeted For UFC 213

On a night where July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas gained a multitude of high-profile fights, the last announcement of the evening could signify that the card will already feature two title fights. A reported surfaced from MMA Fighting late in the evening that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her title

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On a night where July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas gained a multitude of high-profile fights, the last announcement of the evening could signify that the card will already feature two title fights.

A reported surfaced from MMA Fighting late in the evening that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her title against surging No. 1 contender Valentina Shevchenko. It’s unknown which position Nunes vs. Shevchenko will occupy on the main card as of this writing.

The potential bout will be a rematch of their first meeting at 2016’s UFC 196, where Nunes narrowly outlasted Shevchenko by dominating early action with her patented power striking before having the tables turned on her as she badly faded in the final frame. “Bullet” rebounded impressively by beating former champion Holly Holm by decision at UFC on FOX 20 and earned her proposed rematch with Nunes by submitting Julianna Pena in the main event of January’s UFC on FOX 23.

Nunes’ recent run has been even more impactful, as she went on to run over former champion Miesha Tate in the main event of last July’s UFC 200, parlaying that into by far the biggest win of her illustrious MMA career when she stopped legendary inaugural UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey with a shocking 48-second TKO at December 30’s UFC 207.

This blockbuster will join the recently announced Robbie Lawler vs. Donald Cerrone, Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem, and Anthony Pettis vs. Jim Miller alongside the previously announced Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw title bout for what is turning out to be an absolutely stacked card for the UFC’s traditional midsummer spectacular.

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Amanda Nunes Reacts To Valentina Shevchenko’s Rio Refusal

Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are having a tough time agreeing to a date for their perceived upcoming title bout. A rematch between the two, who fought in a close bout that current women’s bantamweight champion Nunes won at last year’s UFC 196, was all but set in stone when Shevchenko submitted Julianna Pena at

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Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are having a tough time agreeing to a date for their perceived upcoming title bout.

A rematch between the two, who fought in a close bout that current women’s bantamweight champion Nunes won at last year’s UFC 196, was all but set in stone when Shevchenko submitted Julianna Pena at January 28’s UFC on FOX 23 and Nunes gave up her quest to fight for the featherweight belt.

All that was left was to set the date, so Nunes recently (and understandably) called Shevchenko out for June 3’s UFC 212 from her homeland in Rio de Janeiro:

‘Bullet’ was quick to fire back, explaining that the UFC had offered them both a fast turnaround to fight at April 8’s UFC 210 event from Buffalo, but “The Lioness” turned it down so she made plans. Because of that fact, Shevchenko proclaimed she’d be ready anytime in July:

Finally, the champion took a bit of umbrage to her foil’s reply, noting that challengers do not pick the date of the fight, only show up and fight:

That’s an understandable response from the champ, who’s coming off a dominant first-round stoppage of former champ Ronda Rousey that lasted only 48 brutal seconds.

However, it looks like Nunes’ attempt to get her next title defense confirmed for Brazil backfired when she turned down an earlier fight day, as Shevchenko is now aiming for the festivities of International Fight Week in July.

UFC 212 still boats a high-profile title fight, with longtime featherweight champ Jose Aldo set to defend his newly-reacquired belt against streaking interim champ Max Holloway in the main event.

As for Nunes and Shevchenko, who are you picking to win the rematch, no matter when it happens?

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Amanda Nunes Offers Heartfelt Apology To Ronda Rousey

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes dismantled Ronda Rousey in the main event of December 30’s UFC 207 , finishing the fight in only 48 seconds into the first round. For Rousey, it was obviously devastating – her comeback after a year away from the fight game was over in less than a minute and

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UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes dismantled Ronda Rousey in the main event of December 30’s UFC 207 , finishing the fight in only 48 seconds into the first round.

For Rousey, it was obviously devastating – her comeback after a year away from the fight game was over in less than a minute and she was yet again exposed inside the octagon. But for Nunes it was a dream, a chance to prove to everyone that she is the true champion and she capitalized by doing it all without breaking a sweat. In less than six months she defeated two of the greatest women fighters to ever grace the octagon after she won the belt from Miesha Tate at last July’s UFC 200.

However, Nunes wasn’t exactly the most gracious in victory.

Since UFC 207, Nunes poked fun at the champion on numerous occasions. For example, at the UFC 207 post-fight press conference, Nunes offered the belief that Rousey should outright retire to avoid hurting herself:

“She’s a millionaire already, why would she keep doing that? Why would she keep hurting herself?

“Because I’m gonna be the champion forever, so she has to retire. She’s not going to get it anymore.”

Then in a later interview with TMZ Sports, Nunes mocked Rousey saying she didn’t know how she got ‘this far in the division’:

“I don’t know how Ronda Rousey went this far in the division, Honestly, I don’t know how those gals lost to Ronda Rousey.”

“I know since my first fight in the UFC that I can beat Ronda Rousey. But of course, I had to take my time and wait for everything to come together. … That day [at UFC 207] was the day I had to prove to everybody, and I did it.”

Nunes also mocked Rousey by posting a seething meme online just moments after she finished the former champion in brutal fashion.

It’s somewhat understandable why Nunes felt slighted by the UFC’s upper management, whom Joe Rogan stated were supposedly calling her “cannon fodder” heading into Rousey supposed comeback bout – a fight where Nunes received little to no promotional focus beforehand.

But now just over a month since the fight took place Nunes seems to have done a complete U-turn and has issued an apology to Rousey through social media, offering the following on Instagram:

“Let me take a moment to explain myself, I was overwhelmed with adrenaline, emotion and hurt at the time. I held so much in during the weeks prior to my fight with Ronda. I might have said or posted some things at the time that I now realise was not the right thing to do. I want to apologise to Ronda. Her fans and mine and the UFC as well. Ronda is an amazing athlete and has done so much for this sport, especially for the women.”

Nunes is expected to rematch number one contender Valentina Shevchenko sometime this year after ‘Bullet’ cemented her title shot with a jaw-dropping submission win over Julianna Pena at last Saturday’s (Jan. 28, 2017) UFC on FOX 23 in Denver.

Although Nunes has beaten Schevchenko before, Shevchenko looked extremely impressive in her last bout, and the rematch could be a lot more competitive than people think.

As for the ‘Rowdy’ former champion, do you think this apology makes up for Nunes’ criticisms of Rousey?

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UFC On FOX 23 Medical Suspensions: Pena, Sterling Earn Long Stints

With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle at UFC On FOX 23, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions. Julianna Pena vs. Valentina Shevchenko in a female bantamweight bout served as the main event while Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal in

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With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle at UFC On FOX 23, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions.

Julianna Pena vs. Valentina Shevchenko in a female bantamweight bout served as the main event while Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight bout served as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card was Andrei Arlovski vs. Francis Ngannou in a heavyweight bout and Alex Caceres vs. Jason Knight in a featherweight bout.

Some of the more notable suspensions include Pena, Aljamain Sterling, Jordan Johnson, and Eric Shelton being suspended for 180 days.

Here are the entire medical suspensions:

Julianna Pena: Suspended 180 days, can be cleared earlier by physician

Aljamain Sterling: Suspended 180 days, can be cleared earlier by physician

Jordan Johnson: Suspended 180 days, can be cleared earlier by physician

Eric Shelton: Suspended 180 days, can be cleared earlier by physician; minimum suspension of 30 days

Jorge Masvidal: Suspended 90 days, can be cleared earlier by physician

Marcos Rogerio De Lima: Suspended 90 days, can be cleared earlier by physician; minimum suspension of 30 days (weight)

Andrei Arlovski: Suspended 60 days

Robert Nash: Suspended 60 days

Donald Cerrone: Suspended 45 days

Henrique da Silva: Suspended 45 days

Jason Knight: Suspended 30 days

Alex Caceres: Suspended 30 days

Sam Alvey: Suspended 30 days

Nate Marquardt: Suspended 30 days

Alessio Di Chirico: Suspended 30 days

Eric Spicely: Suspended 30 days

Jeremy Kimball: Suspended 30 days

J.C. Cottrell: Suspended 30 days

Jason Gonzalez: Suspended 30 days

UFC on FOX 23 took place on Saturday, January 28th, 2017 at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, The UFC Fight Pass prelims started at 4 p.m. ET with two bouts while the FOX Sports 1 prelims started at 5 p.m. ET with six bouts. The main card started at 8 p.m. ET with four bouts.

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Archives: Peña Issues Statement After Losing to Shevchenko (2017)

It’s been almost five years to the day since Julianna Peña lost to Valentina Shevchenko. As we now know, Peña was able to turn out just fine, currently sitting as the women’s bantamweight champion. But in the following article, we re-experience her raw reaction to losing in the UFC for the first time. The following […]

Continue Reading Archives: Peña Issues Statement After Losing to Shevchenko (2017) at MMA News.

It’s been almost five years to the day since Julianna Peña lost to Valentina Shevchenko. As we now know, Peña was able to turn out just fine, currently sitting as the women’s bantamweight champion. But in the following article, we re-experience her raw reaction to losing in the UFC for the first time.

The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.

[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 30, 2017, 8:41 PM]

Headline: Julianna Peña Issues Statement After Losing to Valentina Shevchenko

Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.

Julianna Peña may have lost her first fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but the sky isn’t falling.

Peña was submitted in the second round courtesy of an armbar from Valentina Shevchenko this past Saturday night (Jan. 28). The loss was Peña’s third as a professional mixed martial artist (MMA). That almost means her four-fight winning streak was snapped.

On her Facebook page, Peña apologized to her fans for falling short in Denver. She believes the defeat will help her grow:

“So, so sorry about my loss you guys. Too hungry. At this level of competition, you cannot make the first mistake or you pay the price. This is a big-time learning experience for me. Time to move forward though. I take one look in the past and then I turn around and keep it pushing toward the future.”

“The Venezuelan Vixen” said she hasn’t lost sight of what’s important. A loss inside the Octagon isn’t going to make her forget about the people who have supported her.

“Michael Jordan missed shots and even the best MMA fighters have tasted defeat at some point in their career. My character is not defined by my wins and losses nor are they contingent on the amount of love I receive from those who truly matter to me. Thank you to those who realize how much work goes into this process. It takes a village to get to the big stage and I could not be more grateful for my team who continue to help me achieve my dreams on a daily basis.”

Peña ended her statement by showing appreciation for her fans.

“You guys motivate and inspire me to continue to be great. You guys are my mentors, my heroes, my main support and without you being there for me, there would be no ‘Venezuelan Vixen.’ Much respect, love and thankfulness to those who tuned in to the fight. Like the terminator says, I’ll be back.”

Continue Reading Archives: Peña Issues Statement After Losing to Shevchenko (2017) at MMA News.

Shevchenko vs Pena Fails to Deliver in the Numbers Game

UFC on Fox 23 did not live up to expectations for viewers. Ratings released on Sunday by Nielsen state that UFC on Fox 23 on Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Denver pulled an average of 2.02 million viewers over the two hours it was broadcast. Headliner Valentina Shevchenko’s headline event vs Julianna Pena amassed 1.87 million viewers, for its first […]

UFC on Fox 23 did not live up to expectations for viewers. Ratings released on Sunday by Nielsen state that UFC on Fox 23 on Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Denver pulled an average of 2.02 million viewers over the two hours it was broadcast. Headliner Valentina Shevchenko’s headline event vs Julianna Pena amassed 1.87 million viewers, for its first […]