Chael Sonnen lavishes praise on Julianna Pena ahead of UFC 316 clash against Kayla Harrison: "That girl does not get enough credit"

Chael Sonnen recently shared his thoughts on Julianna Pena's upcoming women's bantamweight title defense against Kayla Harrison and lavished praise on the champion for her ability to generate interest. Sonnen highlighted Pena's commitment to building tension and selling the fight and should be commended for it.

Pena has ramped up her trash talking in her recent bouts dating back to when she pulled off an upset win over Amanda Nunes to become the new women's bantamweight champion. This was on full display as she was recently involved in a back-and-forth exchange with Harrison at their UFC 316 announcement press conference, where she accused her of ducking Cris Cyborg and PED use.

In his latest appearance on The Bohnfire, Sonnen praised Pena for embracing a villain role in her fights and seeking out confrontations during her press conferences. The UFC legend mentioned that 'The Venezuelan Vixen' should receive more appreciation for what she has done and believes she is underappreciated. He said:

"Julianna deserves a lot of credit. Julianna Pena has made things so fun. I mean, she is so beautiful, but comes in and runs that little filthy mouth of hers, which is what makes it work. When you see someone as lovely, they call her 'The Venezuelan Vixen' and then, she's the biggest trash talker in the sport. Like, there is something about that, man. That girl does not quite get enough credit."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (37:56):

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Chael Sonnen dismisses idea of Amanda Nunes returning to challenge Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison winner

Chael Sonnen also shared his thoughts on Amanda Nunes reportedly committing to an octagon return to challenge the winner of Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison and explained why he dismissed the idea.

In the aforementioned interview, Sonnen mentioned that he doesn't believe Nunes will return because of her current status with the testing pool:

"Amanda's not coming back. It's weird that people ever covered that... If somebody was coming back, prove it. And all you had to do is enter the testing pool. If you entered the testing pool, then we would report that you were back and that never happened."

Check out a clip of Amanda Nunes showing interest in challenging Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison winner below: