Julianna Pena didn’t take kindly to the UFC 307 commentary team for doubting her split decision victory over Raquel Pennington.
Returning to the Octagon for her first fight in more than two years, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ dethroned Pennington in the evening’s co-main event, though the decision has faced significant scrutiny with virtually everyone believing that ‘Rocky’ should still be the women’s bantamweight champion.
That includes the commentary trio of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and Daniel Cormier, all of whom disagreed with the two scorecards during the live broadcast.
Though Pena hasn’t actually listened to the commentary, she’s heard about their alleged bias through a number of fans and expressed frustration over it during a recent interview with Ariel Helwani—specifically with Cormier who supposedly backed her to win the fight behind closed doors.
“You know what? DC told me before the fight, ‘You’re gonna win and I think that you need to go bumrush her and just take her out in the first round,’ and I truly believe that because I didn’t push the pace and go psycho Julianna in the first round, that they were just upset that I didn’t go down what they wanted me to do,” Pena said. “They were upset that I didn’t train at elevation like they wanted to be right about.
“And you know what’s sadder about all those guys’ commentating against me is man, I thought that we were cool. Obviously, they’ve got a job to do, but it’s heartbreaking because I want everyone to be on my side when they look at you and they talk to you and they’re friendly. They say all these great things about you, but then publicly on a freakin’ broadcast, they’re just trashing you.”
Julianna Pena: DC told me before the fight, 'I think you're gonna win. I think that you need to go bum rush her and just take her out in the first round.'#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/PCzWzANF6c
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 14, 2024
Asked which rounds she believes she won against Pennington, Pena suggested that rounds 1, 2, 3, and 5 were the difference-makers. Pena also thinks that she landed the more significant strikes while ‘Rocky’ spent much of the fight swinging at the air.
“My strikes are landing more, they’re more significant, and she’s throwing punches in the wind,” Pena said. “I’m parrying it all. Literally, they don’t get through. It’s like that one fight with Maycee Barber. I can’t remember who she fought, but she was punching in the air at nothing. She’s punching in the air, it’s not landing. Whenever I punch, I land.
Julianna Pena believes she won Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 against Raquel Pennington.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/dwWwRwYx1p
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 14, 2024
In reality, Pena outstruck Pennington in just two of the five rounds. Pennington took two of the round and the second stanza was a tie with both landing a meager six strikes each.
Julianna Pena Accuses Amanda Nunes of Steroid Use
Whether you agree with the decision, the fact remains that Julianna Pena is the new UFC bantamweight champion and she already has her sights set on a long-awaited trilogy fight with former two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes.
Immediately following her win in Salt Lake City, Pena called out Nunes. Speaking with Helwani, she took another verbal jab at ‘The Lioness’—this time claiming that Nunes chose to retire last year so that she could sit at home and do copious amounts of steroids without repercussion.
“You know why she wanted to retire?” Pena said. “So that she could get on those roids and not get caught — look how big she is!”
It’s certainly not an unfamiliar dig from Pena. After all, she’s spent the last few months accusing two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison of doing steroids.
Watch the full interview below:
