Julianna Peña has not shied away from talking trash to Kayla Harrison in the lead-up to their championship clash, but that doesn’t mean she is oblivious to the deep résumé that her challenger possesses. Peña is set to defend her bantamweight title against Harrison in the co-main event of UFC 316, which is scheduled for June 7. The reigning titleholder at 135 pounds recently sat down with ESPN MMA to discuss several subjects ahead of this consequential contest on pay-per-view set to transpire in the coming weeks.
While Peña has engaged in verbal volleys with Harrison at press conferences leading up to this fight—with barbs about the latter’s difficult weight cut to 135 pounds and accusations that Harrison left PFL to duck Cyborg—the bluster continues to build toward this bout. Beyond the trash talk, though, the two-time bantamweight champion knows exactly the caliber of competitor she’ll be locked in the cage with in Newark. As she expounded upon this, Peña said:
“Of course, she’s won two gold medals in the Olympics. She is, you know, in the Judo Hall of Fame. She’s 18 and one as a professional. She’s a two-time champion in the PFL. So those are just, you know, the tip of the iceberg for some of the things that she’s accomplished.
“She absolutely has technique—I mean, you don’t get to win two gold medals without having, you know, technique. She’s got technique, absolutely. And she’s very big, you know, she’s very powerful in her judo techniques. So that’s what I see.”
Julianna Peña and the looming presence of Amanda Nunes
Julianna Peña is squarely focused on Kayla Harrison at this juncture, but it is impossible not to have at least peripheral awareness of Amanda Nunes. The former UFC featherweight and multi-time UFC bantamweight champion has been teasing a return to competition, with Nunes indicating that she wants to come out of retirement to fight the victor of Peña vs. Harrison.
‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ definitely desires this fight, as it would be a rubber match with Nunes and Peña each having a victory over the other. The 35-year-old was adamantly against Nunes initially retiring, as Peña intimated that Nunes was ducking out on a trilogy fight between the two. With a win here over Harrison, Julianna Peña might finally be able to secure this coveted third fight with the women’s MMA GOAT.
