Julianna Pena: ‘I’m not Nostradamus, but I predict a win against Amanda Nunes’

Each time Amanda Nunes prepares to defend one of her two UFC titles, her challenger explains why they will be the one to finally dethrone the Lioness. They explain why they will be the one to end the Brazilian’s winning streak.

Each time, so far, the gold has remained wrapped around Nunes’s waist. Each time, the win streak has been extended. It’s now at 12, with Nunes unbeaten in seven years.

So, what separates Julianna Pena from the rest, as the American attempts to pry the bantamweight belt from Nunes in the dual-weight champion’s first bantamweight defence in two years?

“I feel like I’m a different type of fighter,” third-ranked Pena tells The Independent ahead of her UFC 269 co-main event in Las Vegas. “What Amanda does is great, but my focus isn’t on what Amanda does. I feel like I bring something better [than past challengers]; I have fought former world champion after world champion.”

Indeed, Pena (10-4) fought Valentina Shevchenko, Nicco Montano and Germaine de Randamie in three straight bouts between 2017 and 2020. Pena, who is of Mexican and Venezuelan descent, was submitted by ex-featherweight champion De Randamie and eventual flyweight queen Shevchenko. She did, however, outpoint former featherweight champion Montano.

Pena, who is particularly well versed in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, learned from that period in her career and believes she is more resilient as a result.

“I have visualised my worst nightmares and I have been comforted spiritually to not fear anything,” the 32-year-old says.

“If I have to die in the process in there, then I am ready and willing to die.”

It is common for fighters to visualise success, but rarer to hear of them visualising the opposite. The American insists, however, that she finds the appropriate balance.

“I absolutely look at both sides. The most important thing, I feel, is any way that I can get the victory [against Nunes] is how I’m gonna get the victory.

“I’m not Nostradamus, I can’t predict exactly how it’s going to happen, but I predict a win.

“If I knock her out with my pinky finger, are you going to tell me it’s wrong?”

Few would dare to, in such an eventuality, though it is unlikely that the aforementioned attack has been honed in the extra three months that Pena has had to prepare for the powerful, versatile Nunes.

A week before the pair were scheduled to fight in August, Nunes tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the postponement of the 33-year-old’s first bantamweight title defence in two years.

Pena is seemingly unfazed by the delay, and the patience she has shown is also part of her in-ring approach. “Physicality is only one part of the puzzle,” she says. “I feel like patience is sometimes better than pride, and I’m a very patient fighter.”

Some of Nunes’s opponents have arguably been too patient, failing to assert themselves or engage for fear of the consequences. Pena has secured seven of her 10 victories via stoppage, proving that she often picks her moments correctly. Meanwhile, 17 of Nunes’s 21 wins have come via knockout or submission. A finish seems likely this Saturday.

Should that be the case, there is one person above all others who will hope it goes in favour of the challenger. Pena’s daughter Isa, who turns four next month, will be in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena.

“She is very much aware of what it is that I do,” Pena says. “She’s excited [for this fight], she’s happy for me, we talk about it every day.

“She comes to my training sessions and her dad owns a jiu-jitsu academy, so she does the kids’ class a couple times a week.

“I absolutely want her to know how to defend herself; I absolutely don’t want her to be a fighter, but if that’s something that she shows passion for and wants to dedicate herself to, I’ll support her. I just want her to be happy at the end of the day.”

Pena adds that Isa is “a big ‘why’, as to why I want to acquire things in life. But even before I had her, my mind was made up on becoming a champion and fighting the best in the world.

“With that said, my end goal is to be a role model for young women and girls – for mums, for single mums, for Latinas and women of colour. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are, I want to stand in that limelight to let women know that we are strong and can achieve literally anything we set our minds to.

“That is my goal for my daughter and that is my goal for women everywhere.”

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