Julianna Pena questions Raquel Pennington's competitiveness, says she doesn't "want that smoke" against Kayla Harrison
Julianna Pena recently bashed Raquel Pennington's competitiveness ahead of their UFC 307 co-main event and insinuated that she wouldn't welcome a fight against Kayla Harrison. The former women's bantamweight champion claimed that 'Rocky' doesn't want to be a part of big fights and highlighted how they are different.
The rivalry between 'The Venezuelan Vixen' and 'Rocky' dates back to their stint on 'The Ultimate Fighter' and will culminate with their women's bantamweight championship bout at UFC 307. Pena has stated on several occasions that Pennington declined 'UFC Embedded' and blasted her for not going out of her way to promote their fight.
Another intriguing element to UFC 307 is that the two-time Olympic gold medalist will be fighting Ketlen Vieira in what is believed to be a title-eliminator.
While speaking to ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, Pena mentioned that she would be thrilled to fight Harrison should she regain the women's bantamweight championship but claimed that the same can't be said about Pennington:
"I don't think Raquel [Pennington] wants that [fight against Harrison]. I don't think she wants that smoke...I think that she's ready to turn over, give me the belt so that I can fight Kayla like, 'You take it from here, Pena'...I think that that is something that is going to be better for the promotion...for me...for Kayla...I don't think that Raquel wants that smoke and I do. I'm hungry for that...I want the big fights." [6:07 - 6:32]
Check out the full interview with Julianna Pena below:
Julianna Pena describes changes to prepare for competing at high altitude
In addition to sounding off on Raquel Pennington ahead of their UFC 307 co-main event, Julianna Pena described some of the changes made to her training in order to prepare for competing at high altitude in Salt Lake City, Utah.
During her appearance on Fox Sports Australia's 'Main Event', Pena told Alexander Volkanovski that she adjusted her breathing and fight week routine to ensure her body is prepared:
"[High altitude is] definitely a part of the game plan and there's things that you take into account like that high altitude. Taping my mouth shut and you know, trying not to be a mouth breather while I'm doing my sprints and stuff like that was something that I put into my regimen in order to get ready for the acclimation...We came out last night and hoping to be completely acclimated in the 3-5 day period." [8:33 - 8:57]
Check out the full video featuring Julianna Pena's interview below: