“My next fight will be for a title” - Julianna Pena reacts to UFC reportedly booking “horrible” women's bantamweight title fight in January

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Julianna Pena weighed in on not being involved in the rumored title fight for the vacant championship left behind by Amanda Nunes.

According to Brazilian outlet Ag Fight, No.2 and No.3-ranked contenders Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will face off at UFC 297 next year for the vacant women's bantamweight championship.

Julianna Pena put out a statement that was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by MMA reporter Ariel Helwani. She explained that she was injured but will make her return only in a title fight and ridiculed the upcoming matchup between Bueno Silva and Pennington:

"“I’m injured. I will fight the winner. My next fight will be for a title. Guaranteed. I feel bad. Not for myself. But for the fans that are being force fed this horrible fight. What a disaster.” - @VenezuelanVixen this evening following a report from Ag Fight that it’s Mayra Bueno Silva, not Peña, versus Raquel Pennington for the vacant 135 title in January."

Check out his post below:

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Mayra Bueno Silva wants to humiliate Julianna Pena in a potential fight for mocking her

Mayra Bueno Silva is on a four-fight unbeaten streak and is confident of fighting for the title next.

In an interview on MMA Fighting's Trocação Franca podcast, she weighed in on a potential fight against Julianna Pena and the commercial scope of the bout.

“I’m confident I’ll be on the next title fight, but I can’t know what they’re planning. I wouldn’t put [me against] Julianna Peña because she’s coming off a loss, unlike myself and other girls in this division. If I were the matchmaker, I wouldn’t put Julianna in. But thinking as a business, Julianna and I would sell a lot.” [via MMA Fighting]

Mayra Bueno Silva also outlined her intentions to thoroughly beat Julianna Pena and 'humiliate' her for her past mockery and cheating allegations levied against them.

“I won’t knock her out or even submit her, I’ll beat her up so badly. She will learn that you can’t make fun of mental health. She mocked me and said I was being a cheater, so I won’t even finish her. I’ll beat her up very badly to show everybody I own this title, that I own this division. I want to humiliate her.” [via MMA Fighting]

Check out her comments on the full podcast below: