Julianna Pena 'willing to kill' in order to get her hands back on UFC gold as she previews title fight with Raquel Pennington
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Julianna Pena has the opportunity to re-write her name back into the history books later this evening when she takes on bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington in the co-main event of UFC 307.
It's an enormous fight for 'The Venezuelan Vixen', with the possibility of a super fight with Kayla Harrison or even GWOAT Amanda Nunes potentially on the line; and fans better believe that she's 'ready to kill' in order to reclaim her formerly held 135lb title.
Julianna Pena previews UFC 307 title fight with 'Rocky' Pennington
Heading into UFC 307, bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington remains a slight-to-moderate favorite over challenger Julianna Pena, with around two-thirds of Tapology users picking 'And Still' out in Salt Lake City.
Those lines aren't necessarily a surprise given how Pena hasn't competed since dropping the title to Amanda Nunes all the way back in July 2022 in a rather one-sided beatdown.
However, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' believes that she won't be impacted by the dreaded 'ring rust' that comes from such an extended period of inactivity, telling Megan Olivi via ESPN MMA that fighting is simply like riding a bike.
"It feels like riding a bicycle, when you know how to ride a bike, you know how to ride a bike, and I know how to fight… I'm just waiting for that cage door to close so I can get down to business.
"I've grown to be a little bit more patient [since that Nunes rematch], instead of trying to be the reckless, crazy, wild banshee, I'm going to be a little bit more patient in how I fight."
Pennington remains the betting favorite over Pena, having defeated Mayra Bueno Silva in the first PPV of the year with an impressive unanimous decision.
Unsurprisingly, Pena believes that 'Rocky' will look to extend the title fight into the championship rounds once again, although she did warn the champion not to overlook her improved gas tank.
"I think that she's [Pennington] going to kick me a lot, she's going to try to point-spar and run around and try to stay away from me as much as possible… The last fight that I had against Amanda was the first time that I've fought for 25 minutes so that was definitely something new to me.
"In preparation for this fight, I've definitely doubled-up the cardio to make sure I'm able to go 25 minutes no problem," stated Pena, who is 10-5 as a professional and 7-3 in the UFC; with two wins coming via KO/TKO, two via submission, and three by way of the judges' scorecards.
The popular bantamweight star didn't go as far as to predict she'll earn the finish out in Utah but did acknowledge that she's willing to kill in order to get her hands back on the bantamweight title.
"I knew that I needed to be patient and wait for my opportunity, I've been sidelined before with injuries and having a baby – that's not anything new to me… When they gave me this opportunity and say this is the time, I'm ready to seize that moment and kill for it.
"I don't know how, I don't know when, I'm not Nostradamus, I don't have a crystal ball; I just know that I'm literally going to kill [Pennington] and give everything that I have to get my hand raised."
Julianna Pena believes victory at UFC 307 will tempt the GWOAT out of retirement
Should she regain her title and promotional newcomer Kayla Harrison also earn a big win against Ketlen Viera earlier on in the night, the UFC will likely push to make Harrison vs Pena next.
However, Pena herself hopes that a statement victory could tempt the greatest female fighter in history, Amanda Nunes, out of retirement for the 'biggest women's fight in UFC history.'
"Sure [a fight against Kayla would be massive] but I'm hoping that Amanda will want to come out of retirement," Pena explained to MMA Junkie.
"I'm willing to bet that she will be there and that she will be watching very intently, and I don't believe she is as truly done as she claims she is.
"I think she misses the sport; I think that she doesn't know what to do with herself now that she's not fighting, and I think that there will be a little green envious monster in her saying that I can go back there and do this."
Whilst the goal for this weekend is to regain her championship, the long-term goal remains the same: "Get Amanda back into the Octagon and that will be the biggest women's fight in UFC history."
Ironically, those comments didn't sit well with Harrison, who claimed that Pena is simply "trying to avoid the inevitable."
UFC 307 goes down this weekend live from Salt Lake City, Utah.
