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All You Need to Know About Julianna Pena: Career, Records and Achievements

Published 12/05/2021, 10:15 AM EST

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Julianna Pena is an American professional Mixed Martial Artist and currently fights under the UFC promotional banner. She goes by the moniker “The Venezuelan Vixen” and is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.

The 32-year-old fighter currently competes in the UFC’s Bantamweight division and stands 1.68 meters tall with a reach of 1.75 meters.

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Julianna Pena’s career

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Julianna started out as a professional fighter in 2009. Before this, she worked as an assistant instructor at Spokane gym. “The Venezuelan Vixen” fought in The Ultimate Fighter in 2013, opening with a fight against Gina Mazany winning through a unanimous decision after two rounds.

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She later successfully transitioned to the UFC at the end of the same year, where she faced Jessica Rakoczy in the TUF 18 women’s finale. She won the bout through a TKO in the first round itself.

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An arm injury forced “The Venezuelan Vixen” to lose out of action in the entire 2014.

However, she recovered and made a comeback to the UFC in 2015 against Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 163. She won a couple more matches to conclude a 4 match win streak.

Pena created quite a buzz for herself in the meantime, which landed her bouts with some of the most popular fighters in the UFC’s roster, such as former Bantamweight champ Cat Zingano, Valentina Shevchenko.

Her latest match-up involved Sara McMann at UFC 257, which she won through RNC submission in the 3rd round.

Julianna Pena’s records and achievements

“The Venezuelan Vixen” currently has 11 wins and 4 losses to her name. Her victories include 3 TKOs, 5 submissions, and 3 wins by decisions.

As of 5th December 2021, Pena is #11 on UFCs women pound-for-pound ranking and currently stands at #3 on UFCs women Bantamweight charts.

Moreover, Pena has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the American is also The Ultimate Fighter 18 Women’s Bantamweight champion.

Julianna Pena vs Amanda Nunes

Rising through the Bantamweight rankings, Pena carved herself out as the no.1 contender for the UFC women’s Bantamweight Championship, currently held by “The Lioness” Amanda Nunes.

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Their bout was scheduled this past August at UFC 265, but they soon canceled it as COVID-19 struck Nunes. Thus, the match is now postponed for UFC 269 as the co-main event on 11th December 2021.

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Can Julianna Pena beat Amanda Nunes to claim her maiden UFC Bantamweight championship?? Tell us in the comments below.

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Written by:

Aashish Kumar

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Aashish Kumar is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in Journalism & Mass Communication, this Israel Adesanya fan has interned at reputed media houses and gained valuable reporting experience. Building on that experience, Aashish will look to tap into his love for combat sports and let fans benefit from his passion and journalistic expertise.
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