- Julianna Pena shared her honest take on Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
- “The Venezuelan Vixen” revealed when she is looking to make a possible return
Julianna Pena is certain that the upcoming title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva doesn’t make any sense. She is also admitted that she doesn’t care whoever wins the fight as she is more focused on her return.
The UFC is just belt-warming
The women’s bantamweight title was vacated by Amanda Nunes and will now be handed to the winner of Pennington vs. Silva. However, Pena insisted that it was just an interim title fight as the UFC is just trying to keep the division interesting even with her out of the picture due to an injury.
“I’m sorry that you guys are going to be force-fed this horrible interim title fight… It’s going to be interim . They’re just keeping it warm they’re belt warming until I come back mama’s coming back so apologies for the fact that I cannot compete but I will be back fighting. My next fight will be for a title so whoever wins between those two chicks, I’ll be fighting the winner,” Pena said on the MMA Hour.
Julianna is not interested in talking about anybody but herself
As for her pick, “The Venezuelan Vixen” said she thinks Pennington has the experience over Silva but she wants Silva to win as she believes the Brazilian would be more interesting as an opponent. But ultimately, Pena is not fond of talking about either of them and she could care less who wins.
“I’m going to give a little bit of a shine to Raquel because I feel like over time she has gotten better and better as time goes on. She’s definitely a durable fighter, she’s capable of being a champion and getting that belt so I would say that Raquel has a the veteranness on her side,” Pena assessed.
“Here’s the thing at least Mayra is like a dance partner you know what I mean, because look, at the end of the day… love me, hate me whatever, I want you guys to be invested in my success. I want you to be invested in my failures. It doesn’t matter I need you guys to watch the fights I want you guys to watch me fight and the point of the banter, back and forth is so that I can have a dance partner so that I can make it more exciting so that people are going to want to watch. With Mayra, I have that in her because she’s got a mouth, I got a mouth and we can go back and forth. With Raquel, it’s kind of like crickets you know so it’s like for me it’d be better if Mayra wins so that way we can make it more exciting for all of you guys,” she continued.
“I would not root for either one of them and may the best woman win and like I don’t want to put too much emphasis on either one of them, who cares about them, let’s talk about me,” she concluded.
Pena was set to face Nunes for a trilogy match at UFC 289 but an undisclosed injury saw her pulling out. After Nunes beat the replacement Irene Adana, “Lionness” announced her retirement.
With the bantamweight title now vacant, Pennington and Silva would compete for it at UFC 297. Pena is certain she will be facing the winner of the title match but she admitted that she won’t be back in action until summer.
“I know that everyone didn’t believe me when I said I had to fall out when I was fighting Amanda [for the trilogy bout], but I legitimately did have an injury and I’m still trying to heal from that. I’m not trying to give out every single injury because you have to keep a couple of cards close to the chest, but I am injured. I won’t be back until summer.”
UFC 297 will take place on January 20, 2024 at the Scotiabank, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Check out Pena’s full interview below:
