UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Julianna Peña is expecting a break from competition spanning eight to nine months before putting her newly won gold on the line.
Peña achieved two-time titleholder status at the UFC 307 pay-per-view in Salt Lake City, Utah earlier this month, where she made the reign of longtime rival Raquel Pennington a short one.
The pair went the full five rounds in the card's co-headliner, with "The Venezuelan Vixen" controversially getting the nod on two of the three scorecards to be crowned queen.
On the same card, Kayla Harrison extended her UFC record to a perfect 2-0 by outpointing Ketlen Vieira. That result appeared to signal her as first in line for a shot at Peña in her opening defense.
But it would appear fans could be waiting some time before seeing that matchup play out inside the Octagon...
Peña Has 'Things To Do' Before UFC Return, Targets Mid-2025
During an appearance on the debut episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, Peña reflected on her title-winning performance in the "Beehive State" and looked ahead to what could await her next.
After insisting that she's willing to face Harrison should Nunes stay on the sidelines to potentially fight the winner, the champ pointed to next summer's International Fight Week in Las Vegas as a potential date for her return.
I'm not sure (when I will return). That's something that the machine and my dogs, my agents and everything like that, we're going to have to be going back and forth for a while and make sure this is going to be the best-case scenario for me," Peña said. "That is a bridge that we can't cross yet.
Whenever I text Hunter (Campbell), they're like, 'Chill, just enjoy the win, relax.' That's kind of what I'm getting right now," Peña said, before outlining her desired return date. "I don't know, I think maybe International Fight Week would be a good time. We'll see. There are some things I need to do on my end.
For the time being, "The Venezuelan Vixen" will be enjoying the start of her second stint as bantamweight queen before looking ahead to her sophomore attempt at adding a successful defense to her résumé.
And in the meantime, she doesn't appear likely to let up in her pursuit of drawing Amanda Nunes back to complete their trilogy in 2025.