Julianna Pena: Everyone forgot about me
Julianna Pena: “I feel like I had so much momentum coming off of the show and so much support and then all of a sudden I got hurt and I died. Everyone forgot about me.”
Julianna Pena dominated The Ultimate Fighter 18, finishing Shayna Baszler, Sarah Moras, and Jessica Rakoczy, and becoming the first female winner of the show. Pena was on Team Tate, and at a post event dinner, opposing coach and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey approached her.
“She said I was gonna give her a tougher fight than Miesha could ever dream about, but when that day comes, ‘I’m still gonna kick your ass,'” recalled Pena to Marc Raimondi for MMAfighting. “That’s a straight quote. I’ll never forget it. In my mind, I was like, ‘Girl, you’re already 6 feet under and you don’t even know it.'”
“The Venezuelan Vixen” figured with two wins she would get a title shot. She was slated to fight Jessica Andrade in March of 2014, when she suffered a horrific knee injury. On Saturday, over a year later, Pena, 25, fights Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 63.
“I feel like I had so much momentum coming off of the show and so much support and then all of a sudden I got hurt and I died,” said Pena. “Everyone forgot about me and I fell off the face of the planet. So, it’s my job to keep my face and name out there for the people out there to recognize and for the people to be aware that I’m coming back and that I didn’t die and that I’m still here and that I’m still gunning for the belt.”
“I’m going to make it my goal to put on as exciting and devastating performance as possible. I want a finish and I want it in the first round and I want it to come in a convincing matter.”
“If I win, hopefully it’ll make me a bigger star and just refresh everybody’s memories and everybody’s mind that I am a force to be reckoned with.”
“I think Ronda is great. In one sense, she’s my hero. She’s put women’s MMA on the map and I think she is a fantastic athlete, a fantastic fighter.
“I’ve gotta believe I can beat anybody on any given day. Not only that, I’m not afraid of Ronda. I think that’s the difference between a lot of the opponents she’s faced. She’s been so much the bully in the situation. No, I’m the bully. She just hasn’t faced a fighter like me before.”
“I wake up every morning and every night just thinking about this girl. She consumes a lot of my thoughts, to be honest. I’m just looking forward to the day that I see that happen.”
