Julianna Pena had a message for Mayra Bueno Silva days ahead of the Brazilian’s first UFC title opportunity.
On Saturday night (January 20) fight fans will witness the rise of a new women’s bantamweight world champion when Bueno Silva battles streaking veteran Raquel Pennington for the vacant 135-pound crown. The fight will feature in the UFC 297 co-main event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, but according to Bueno Silva, nobody is interested.
Originally, Bueno Silva, like most fans, assumed she would be facing former titleholder Julianna Pena for the strap to kick off 2024. Since the announcement of her impending clash with Pennington, ‘Sheetara’ has only appeared interested in speaking about an inevitable showdown with ‘The Venezuelan Vixen.’
That trend continued on Wednesday during the pre-fight press event when Bueno Silva called a potential fight with Pena “easy money.”
“It’s easy to focus on Raquel because I’m not focused on Julianna because Raquel is very tough and more tough than Julianna,” Bueno Silva said. “Julianna is easy money. Raquel is tough.”
Mayra Bueno Silva (@MayraSheetara) says Julianna Pena is "easy money," Raquel Pennington the tougher fight. #UFC297
Full vid: https://t.co/VhB57UxAeZ pic.twitter.com/7gs3bgum0V
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) January 17, 2024
Addressing Bueno Silva’s comments during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Julianna Pena responded to the disparaging remarks, suggesting that her own aura is the most interesting thing surrounding Saturday’s UFC 297 co-headliner.
“Nobody wants to see this fight between her and Raquel,” Pena said. “I am once again the most interesting thing about this fight and she can get it. I’m like Beetlejuice. You say my name three times and I’m gonna show up. She can’t keep my name out of her mouth. This chick is the president of my fan club. She is my biggest supporter and I gotta say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
“Unfortunately, that mediocrity is trying to get to greatness. She’s always trying to be me. She’s like that bootleg version of myself and thinking that if you squawk enough you’ll get the title shot. And hey, that might have worked for some people in the past, but when I was talking crap, I was actually speaking facts of what has happened to me in my career. I can back it up. I wasn’t just talking crap to talk crap.”
Julianna Peña responds to Mayra Bueno Silva's media day comments.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/Kh8pDIbAke
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 17, 2024
Julianna Pena Suggests ‘Sheetara’ is Biting Off More Than She Can Chew with Raquel Pennington
The biggest win of Julianna Pena’s career undoubtedly came at UFC 269 when she scored a stunning second-round submission victory over Amanda Nunes to claim the bantamweight title.
“She thinks that if she just runs her mouth, she’ll get a title shot,” Pena continued. “Lo and behold, you get a failed drug test and then you get a title shot. The stars are aligning for her and that’s great, but I don’t necessarily think it’s going to be as easy as she thinks it is. As a matter of fact, she herself said that she couldn’t fight Amanda Nunes and would never be able to beat Amanda Nunes because Amanda would stomp a mudhole in her.
“That’s not the case for me. I actually have that win and in the second fight, I ran out of time. So there it is. This girl could not even beat Amanda and she thinks that I’m the easy fight. Whatever.”
Pena handed the title right back to ‘The Lioness’ seven months later via a lopsided unanimous decision, but she’ll likely have another opportunity to reclaim the crown as she is expected to fight the winner of Bueno Silva vs. Pennington later this year.
“I think [Bueno Silva] is a little bit over her skills fighting Raquel. Raquel is durable, she’s tough, and it’s gonna be a lot easier said than done when she gets in there with Raquel on Saturday night and she’s gonna see that,” Pena concluded.
Watch the full interview below:
