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Julianna Peña has sounded off on critics who’ve been discrediting her incredible second-round rear-naked choke submission win over MMA legend Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ suggested that the “trolls” ought to change their mind and side with her moving forward.
On a recent edition of The Jim Rome Show, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña discussed a variety of topics. 'The Venezuelan Vixen' also addressed speculation that Nunes simply had an off day and quit during their fight despite the rear-naked choke not being fully locked in.
The 32-year-old explained that the hybrid rear-naked choke she used against Nunes was the same one she used for her third-round submission win over Sara McMann at UFC 257 in January. Peña stated:
“It makes me a little bit upset, to be honest, because they’re trying to discredit my work and the hard work that I’ve done. But, you know what, everybody has an opinion. And if anything, I just wanna be able to take a second to all the trolls out there and just say, ‘Please be on my side. Let’s go through this journey together.’"
Julianna Peña also stated that while fans may have been put off by her in the past, she's going to attempt to change their minds and embrace her as champion.
"I’m the new UFC bantamweight world champion. I said it before, and maybe it was annoying in the past because I knew what I needed to do and what I had to do to get the fight. And I did that, so maybe people are a little off-putted by the fact that I’ve been squawking about this thing for the last five years. But now that I finally have it, now that I did what I said I was going to do, let’s move forward and try to go on this journey together as me as the new UFC bantamweight champion; change those people’s minds.”
Check out Julianna Peña’s message for the trolls in the video below:
Dana White believes the Julianna Peña vs. Amanda Nunes rematch will be the biggest women's MMA fight ever
In an interview with ESPN MMA, UFC president Dana White indicated the UFC is attempting to book a rematch between Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes. He opined that it'd be the biggest fight in women’s MMA history. White said:
“The Peña rematch with Nunes will probably be the biggest women's [MMA] fight of all time... Ronda Rousey and Holly [Holm] is the one right now. [Peña vs. Nunes] in every way will possibly beat it.”
Amanda Nunes still currently holds the UFC featherweight title. ‘The Lioness’ will likely face Julianna Peña in a rematch next, in an attempt to reclaim her bantamweight title. The UFC is yet to officially announce the date and other details regarding their rematch.
