UFC bantamweight Julianna Pena looking to reclaim her title in Pennington challenge
02/10/2024
Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Julianna Peña (12-5, fighting out of Spokane, Wash.) looks to reclaim the championship from Pennington and kickstart a second title run
No. 1 ranked UFC women’s bantamweight
Six wins via submission, three by knockout
Four first-round finishes
02/10/2024
Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Julianna Peña (12-5, fighting out of Spokane, Wash.) looks to reclaim the championship from Pennington and kickstart a second title run
No. 1 ranked UFC women’s bantamweight
Six wins via submission, three by knockout
Four first-round finishes
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Obviously a big fight on a title that you've wanted back since your last fight and against
00:23an opponent that I feel like you've kind of been circling for pretty much both of your
00:27entire career.
00:28How was camp and I guess what are the emotions now that are only a few days removed from
00:32this fight that you've been calling for?
00:34Camp was amazing.
00:35I feel like I've been thinking about this fight for the last 18 months.
00:39There is a part of it that feels surreal.
00:41I can't believe that it's actually here.
00:42It doesn't feel real, but I'm happy, I'm motivated, I'm excited, I'm ready to go.
00:48Has it felt like one long fight camp for you because even after Amanda's last fight and
00:53she retired Dana White at the post fight in Vancouver, it was like, you know, Juliana's
00:56probably going to fight for the title.
00:58Whoever she's fighting next and obviously you weren't ready to go.
01:01So has this just felt like one long drawn out fight camp since your last fight?
01:05I'll tell you the hardest part for me in all of my preparations is never my opponent.
01:12It's always myself and making sure that my body is healthy, willing and able to carry
01:16me through the fight.
01:17So yes, it's always felt like one big fight in order to get to the actual fight and it's
01:22not necessarily about anything else other than is my body willing and able and is it
01:26going to carry me through to get inside the octagon.
01:29And obviously the big story is, you know, from your time on The Ultimate Fighter to
01:32now I think you guys are the only two fighters left from that season still in the UFC.
01:37So I'm curious, did you ever think Raquel would get to this point, like when you were
01:40sharing a room with her and training with her and being around her, did you see her
01:44ever reaching the championship or fighting for the title even back then?
01:48I have to be honest and I don't mean this in any sort of disrespectful way, but I've
01:53never thought about Raquel and her fighting and what she's doing and how her career is
01:57going and the trajectory of how she's going.
01:59It's always just been a focus on me and myself and what I know I can do.
02:03Were you surprised that she was the one welcoming you back with the title?
02:06Because I know you and Myra had some issues and people thought it would be you two matched
02:10up and then Raquel stepped in.
02:12Did you ever think it would be her holding the belt when you would return?
02:16No, to answer your question, no.
02:19I did not.
02:20However, I will say that she has earned the opportunity and she did everything that she
02:25needed to do in order to get gold.
02:29To me it has always felt almost like she was fighting for an interim, just because I fell
02:33out with Amanda and I wasn't able to make that fight.
02:39Let me also piggyback that with, it was my fault.
02:43It was my fault that I wasn't able to fight with Amanda and it was my fault that she was
02:46fighting for an interim.
02:49The only person that I can blame is myself.
02:51She said that you've been avoiding sighting the dotted line for a long time.
02:55She said that in a few interviews now.
02:56Were you guys ever matched up after the Ultimate Fighter?
02:59No, and that's the part that doesn't make sense.
03:00We've never had a fight.
03:01They've never offered me Raquel.
03:03They never said to fight Raquel.
03:06Ever since I won the Ultimate Fighter, I have always been looking in front of my windshield.
03:09I've never been looking in the rearview mirror.
03:12I've always been going up the ladder and I haven't been focusing too much down the ladder.
03:16You also said that she even prepared for two fights for this, Kayla and Juliana, in
03:20case Juliana pulls out again or anything like that.
03:23Do you think she's just saying that or do you think she actually did try to prepare
03:26for two fights?
03:27The only reason why I laughed at that statement is I was like, yeah, it's true.
03:31I always do get injured, so it's good for her.
03:36She will have realized that she made a mistake on Saturday night.
03:39And the last one for me, I think you were in Manchester, correct?
03:42Yes, sir, I was.
03:43To watch Bilal.
03:44At his media day, he said that Chicago sports isn't in the best shape right now and he wanted
03:48to kind of take that mantle and run with it as the champion in Chicago.
03:52So I guess, what was it like seeing him win the title and then possibly getting the second
03:55title back to Chicago?
03:56Well, that was my hope, too, when I won it the first time.
03:59I won the belt.
04:00I brought it back to the lake and I was trying to make Chicago sports scene, trying to motivate
04:04those Bears and trying to motivate all the White Sox and anybody else I could that was
04:09playing professional sports in Chicago.
04:13Not so much my luck there, but Bilal's doing a great job of representing the city of Chicago
04:17and I'm looking forward to bringing the belt back again so that we can both, especially
04:21coming from the same gym, be representing Chicago and being champions and hopefully
04:26motivating the other teams to step up their game.
04:29Yeah, it's not looking too hot for the White Sox.
04:33Juliana Redd over here.
04:38You're one of the few fighters on this card who can say that they've competed in Utah
04:41before.
04:42Right before you got to the Ultimate Fighter, you competed here in Orem, Utah.
04:46Is that kind of a leg up for you, knowing that you've tested the waters of this elevation,
04:49which is always a storyline coming into Salt Lake City?
04:52I will say it's what gives me confidence.
04:54I'll take you back to that time period in my life.
04:59In February of that year, I got ran over by a car walking on the sidewalk.
05:04A few months later, not even, my instructor, who's also a promoter in Spokane, Washington,
05:10said, my main event fell out, and I need you to step up on short notice.
05:15It had only been a couple of months since I had my nose shattered, which is this gigantic
05:19scar you see here, and since I jacked up my neck and my back from getting ran over.
05:23I took the fight on short notice.
05:24I got armbarred in front of all my friends and family, and I was so upset because I was
05:29like, I quit.
05:30I'm done.
05:31It was so embarrassing.
05:32It was my first loss experiencing that.
05:33I was very embarrassed, but I was done with the sport.
05:37The hearing that I was done, he said, called me up, you have a fight in less than two weeks.
05:44I was about 153 pounds or something like that, and I had to make 125 here in Salt Lake City.
05:50On two weeks' notice, I cut.
05:53I missed weight for the first and last time in my career at 127.
05:58They did not give me the pound, which I think I needed another pound, too.
06:03Anyways, I was at 127.
06:04I came in.
06:05I remember my instructor pulling me out of the sauna by the scruff of my neck because
06:10I had passed out in the sauna, and we thought I was dead.
06:14They didn't give me an IV.
06:15They wouldn't let me rehydrate.
06:16My hands were cramped up like this, and I lost a hometown decision to a girl from here,
06:20Salt Lake City.
06:21So, for me, it was like, wow, if that doesn't give you the confidence that you can fight
06:25in Salt Lake City on two weeks' notice, coming off of the couch, doing absolutely nothing
06:29and going to a decision which you could say, you know, obviously, I'm always going to be
06:33biased.
06:34It could have gone either way.
06:36So, for me, that is another thing that gives me a little added confidence, like, that I'll
06:41be okay.
06:42Given that tumultuous lead-up to that fight, is there some sort of a personal redemption
06:46arc for you here, trying to look back and get that title back?
06:49Absolutely.
06:50Absolutely.
06:51For me, that was one of the challenges that I wanted to give to myself, is, you know,
06:55back then, it wasn't in your favor, but this time, it's going to be different.
06:59That's it.
07:01Julianna, right over here.
07:05You said that this is the biggest fight of your life and the most important fight of
07:09your career.
07:10Did that lead to any different preparations or, you know, training coming into this one,
07:15any more intensity than normal?
07:18I know that this is going to sound cliche, but every single fight that I fight is the
07:21biggest fight of my life.
07:22But I feel like, especially at this day and age, the window of fighting, for me, narrows
07:31day by day by day.
07:32I am not no spring chicken no more.
07:34I'm not 21 years old, you know?
07:36But with that being said, comes experience, comes a bit of wiseness in the game.
07:44I feel like, again, every fight is the biggest fight of my life, but especially this one,
07:48because I'm going for gold again, and you're not going to get 100 chances to fight for
07:51the belt.
07:52It took me a long time of calling for the belt and calling for the belt to want to get
07:56to this point.
07:57And now that I'm at this point, it's to maintain, and I'm always going to be in these championship
08:02fights.
08:03So these are gigantic fights for me, and I'm going to do everything that I can to seize
08:06the moment.
08:08And Raquel said that, in the end, it's going to come down to who wants this more.
08:12How confident are you that you want this championship victory more than your opponent?
08:16I believe that I want this opportunity and that this championship belt means more to
08:21me than it does to her.
08:23And it's very clear when you match us up side by side, Raquel has not been a good representation
08:32of the women's bantamweight division.
08:33She has not promoted.
08:35She has said no to embedded.
08:36She has constantly done everything that she can to avoid being the face of women's MMA
08:41and not being that big face that wants to promote and be that great representation of
08:45women's MMA.
08:46That, to me, is you're telling me nothing, but you're showing me everything, or you're
08:49showing me nothing, but you're telling me everything by not being that person that is
08:55letting everybody know that you're fighting.
08:57I want to be that person.
08:58That's my role, and I can do it better.
09:00And that's why I believe that I'm going to be able to seal the deal on Saturday night
09:04and get that gold again.
09:05And last question from me.
09:07How has your coach, Wayne Gregory, helped and influenced you throughout your MMA journey
09:12up to this point, now getting ready to fight for this title?
09:16If you go back and you YouTube Wayne's name, you'll see many knockouts, many fights.
09:21He's been fighting since he was, or he's been, he learned how to fight and learned how to
09:25box at five years old, and he has his own career that he had as a fighter.
09:31It started in the United States, and then it moved to Thailand, and then it came back
09:34to the United States.
09:35So when it comes to picking a brain of another fighter who can give you advice and guidance,
09:40I feel incredibly grateful and blessed and honored to be able to learn from him, as well
09:45as my other coaches, Mike Valli and Luis Claudio.
09:48These are experts in their field.
09:50I feel like I have the best team of experts around me.
09:53It's not just about Wayne, but it's a collective whole.
09:56And when I know that I have experts in jiu-jitsu, experts in mixed martial arts, experts in
10:00boxing and Muay Thai, I feel like, wow, I am really, they are setting the stage for
10:06me.
10:07They are setting the table for me to just go in there and do my job, and they make it
10:10easy because of the preparation that they give to me.
10:13Julianna, one more over here.
10:16When you were talking about how, like, Raquel, she hasn't been this representation of women's
10:19MMA because she's not promoting, is it, like, I know you're focused on the fight on Saturday,
10:24but there's obviously this big name that's also on this card in Kayla, and I think when
10:28you fought Amanda, that brought a lot of eyeballs to the sport because people always said Amanda
10:32needed a foil that could challenge her on the mic.
10:35And Kayla seems to be already promoting a fight with you, and you don't even have a
10:39fight lined up yet against her.
10:41So are you looking, not looking past Raquel, but, like, are you kind of excited about the
10:46possibility of just the buildup to a fight with Kayla Harrison and the press conferences
10:50and the medias and the embeddeds that it could lead to in the eyes on this division?
10:54Again, I like how you phrased that question because you said not looking past Raquel.
10:59My goal, my job is to be looking in front of my windshield right now, and Raquel is
11:04in front of my windshield right now.
11:06Kayla's in the rearview mirror.
11:08Kayla has a job to do, and I have a job to do.
11:10I need to get my hand raised on Saturday night.
11:13When that happens, then we can talk about Kayla, but right now it's all about me and
11:16Raquel Pennington.
11:18Obviously, this fight's been a long time coming, so how do you see it playing out on Saturday?
11:26The way that I see the fight playing out is getting my hand raised.
11:28I am confident in my preparation.
11:33I will tell you that once that cage door closes, I haven't seen anybody that has the mindset,
11:39the determination, the will, and the grit that I possess.
11:43I think that that's what's going to carry me through to victory.
11:46Obviously, I know that you're focused on your fight, but who do you have in the main event?
11:54I don't know.
11:57I haven't given a lot of watch to the countdown and to Embedded to be able to give my little
12:06crystal ball predictions of who I think is going to win.
12:09I like both gentlemen.
12:10I think that they're both excellent fighters, and I know that the fans are in for an exciting
12:16and an incredible main event.