Female UFC fighter sends chilling message to Julianna Pena with newborn baby in arm
Julianna Pena's next opponent has potentially revealed herself after Raquel Pennington sent a stern message to 'The Venezuelan Vixan' whilst holding her baby.
Pena and Amanda Nunes were originally set for their trilogy bout at UFC 289 last month. However, the 33-year-old was forced to pull out of the fight through injury. 'The Lioness' instead fought Irene Aldana and successfully defended the women's bantamweight title with a dominant performance.
The Brazilian then shocked fans by calling time on her MMA career following the victory. With the title now vacant, Julianna Pena is expected to fight for the belt against a currently unannounced opponent.
Throwing their name in the hat to potentially face Pena was Raquel Pennington, who spoke to MMA Fighting. The 34-year-old, who is on a five-fight win streak, was asked about the fight and interestingly held her baby whilst calling out Pena. She said:
"Absolutely [Pennington expects to face Julianna Pena next]. I sat down and told them [UFC brass] that I wanted to be next after everything went down... Now, I better get that world title next. This has been a fight I've been waiting for since The Ultimate Fighter, since 2013. There's no way I come out of that octagon without my hand being raised."
Catch Pennington's comments here:
Raquel Pennington expects to fight Julianna Peña for the vacant bantamweight title next 🏆
"This has been a fight that I've been waiting for since The Ultimate Fighter... 10 years later, there's no way I'm not coming out of that octagon without my hand being raised." https://t.co/YtZ6mX42aA
Maycee Barber calls out Julianna Pena for reaction to Amanda Nunes' retirement
Julianna Pena caused a stir amongst MMA fans following Amanda Nunes announcing her retirement. 'The Venezuelan Vixan' claimed that the only reason Nunes retired was because she was 'scared' to fight her for a third time.
Pena's comments drew much criticism from fans and fighters alike, with Maycee Barber recently speaking out against Pena. According to the women's flyweight fighter, it was incredibly disrespectful to try and tarnish Nunes' retirement. She said:
"The only thing I didn't like was how much Julianna [Pena] was talking crap. Like, that was the only thing that was like, that's just cringy. But, that probably the only thing that I thought about the retirement that I didn't like and I wish Amanda all the success in the world."
Barber added:
"I think that that was very stupid. Yeah, I just think that like, you never know what's going on in someone's life and if she wanted to call it done, she called it done. And like, who's to say that you can't retire...I think that if Amanda hadn't retired and she fought Julianna, I think that Julianna got out very easy on that."
Catch Barber's comments here: