Pena: Rousey’s a bully, I’m a bigger bully
Julianna Peña: “I’ve been bullied my whole life and I just feel like she’s been a bully, and I feel like in the sense that I’m the bully and I’m a bigger bully than she can imagine.”
The problem with the MMA media used to be that there was too little news; now there is more than anyone can consume. However, Submission Radio is on the Must List. Most recently they interviewed UFC women’s bantamweight Julianna Peña, ahead of her fight with Milana Dudieva on April 4, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 63 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.
Dudieva is coming off a split decision win over Peña’s SikJitsu teammate Elizabeth Phillips
I never underestimate opponents, and in one sense you could say that I love her,” began Peña. “But I want it and I want to win, and I want to win more than her. And as much as I love her in spirit, I’m going to do everything in my power to make it very difficult for her and it’s going to be a tough gritty fight, but it’s one that I’m expecting and it’s one that I’m embracing, and I just can’t wait to go and get another win, and to refresh everybody’s memory that I haven’t died and that I’m still around and that I’m still here.
“And more importantly, I want to win for myself, and for my team, and to get kind of a win back for the fact that my training partner fought her in August in Macau and took a loss on her that I feel like she shouldn’t have taken a loss on, and it was a bad decision in my opinion, and I just want to go get that win for my teammate and to be the big sister in this type of situation and to get that win for my city.
Discussion about WMMA generally circles back to Ronda Rousey.
Well first off, let me be the first to tell you that I’m the biggest Ronda Rousey fan that there is and I think that she’s an incredible athlete,” began Peña. Where I would hold the advantage is that I would not be mentally broken before the fight ever started, which I feel is sometimes to me – in my opinion – what seems to be the case with these other women that are facing her. They already look dead upon arrival when they’re in the cage with her and I refuse to be shaken.
I’ve been bullied my whole life and I just feel like she’s been a bully, and I feel like in the sense that I’m the bully and I’m a bigger bully than she can imagine, and I think that I would also have the advantage in the sense that I’m not afraid wherever the fight goes
I feel like I have great scrambles, great wrestling, great Jiu-Jitsu. I have great striking, great Muay Thai. Wherever the fight goes – and this goes for any opponent that I face in the future – wherever the fight goes with any opponent that I face, I’m comfortable and I am confident in my skill set, and I’m gonna give ’em hell or die trying no matter who I fight.
One thing that I can say is that I’m not afraid of Cris Cyborg and I’ll fight her at 150 pounds, 145 pounds, 125 pounds, whatever pounds you guys want to make, I’ll fight her.
(4:17 mark)
