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Julianna Pena is putting a lot of thought into when she'll return to challenge UFC bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Pena outlined a Summer comeback to be the first title defense for 'Rocky' who won the gold at UFC 297 over the weekend. Mayra Bueno Silva fell short on points to Pennington in the co-main event showdown for the vacant 135-pound belt on Jan. 20.
The former UFC bantamweight champion mentioned she was back to training at a hundred percent, and Pena is eyeing a new queen in the octagon who was cemented days ago. When asked about when we might next see her again inside the confines of the cage, Pena said:
"I would say one of those two dates, first week of June or third week in July. I asked for international fight week. They said no. They said that that date wasn't available. They did say however if anything changes, they would let me know about international fight week. Location I think would be a really big key factor for me."
"They won't give me the location of June 1st yet and July 3rd, I'm not sure the location either. But I do know, lucky me, that both locations will be in the United States."
Check out Julianna Pena discussing her bantamweight gold return timeline below:
Julianna Pena and her UFC run so far
Julianna Pena did not compete for the entirety of 2023 following her 2022 title loss and had to withdraw from a planned title bid in June of last year. She was to have a rubber match against Amanda Nunes, but Irene Aldana took her place after Pena withdrew. This led to Nunes winning and retiring thereafter, which led to the title being vacated in the first place.
The 34-year-old looks to become a two-time UFC bantamweight champion after besting Nunes in December 2021 to generate one of the all-time biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
'The Venezuelan Vixen' cemented herself as The Ultimate Fighter season 18 champion and has competed against champions from every instantiated UFC weight category since then.
In addition to the Nunes W, the Washington native has wins over names like Nicco Montano, Cat Zingano, Sara McMann, as well as Jessica Eye to mention a few.
