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“That’s the Plan” – Julianna Pena Expects Herself and Miesha Tate to be Champions this Year

Published 01/26/2022, 7:30 AM EST

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Julianna Pena is on top of the world right now. She recently did the unthinkable and became the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Pena defeated the heavy favorite and one of the greatest of all time, Amanda Nunes.

Nobody expected her to do what she did. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ took the fight to Nunes like no one had ever before and submitted the Brazilian in the second round. Since the win, Pena has been enjoying the spotlight and using her status as champion to get more eyes on the UFC as well.

Recently, she was present at the UFC 270 media day and talked to the media. The champion talked about a potential rematch with ‘The Lioness‘ and her leaving her previous team, ATT. In between, Pena was asked about what she thought of her close friend, Miesha Tate, dropping to the flyweight division.

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She said, “I think that that’s great. If Miesha, which I do believe will find a ton of success at 125 and can fight for the belt at 125, I think there would be nothing better, especially for the UFC and for the sport, and particularly for the state of Washington to have two Washington champions at 125 and 135. That’s the plan.”

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Miesha Tate will face Lauren Murphy at UFC Fight Night 209 on May 14, 2022.

Miesha Tate moving to the flyweight division

The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate, is changing her division. Earlier this month, a matchup between her and the number 3 ranked flyweight, Lauren Murphy, was announced.

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Cupcake‘ is one of the biggest names in women’s MMA. Tate retired from the sport back in 2016 but made her return five years later. She fought Marion Reneau in her first fight back and put in an impressive performance. The former champion dominated her opponent and won via TKO in the third round.

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However, her last fight didn’t turn out to be good for her. She took on Ketlen Vieira at UFC Fight Night 198 and lost via a unanimous decision. Tate would hope to get back to winning ways against Murphy. A win against ‘Lucky‘ will immediately make her a contender in the division.

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Written by:

Arunaditya Aima

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Arunaditya is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Having completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Multimedia Journalism from IIJNM, Arunaditya aspires to be an important voice in the world of MMA and interview the likes of Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, and other such superstars of the sport. He has followed the sport for over a decade and is an ardent fan of Georges St-Pierre, who he believes is the greatest of all time.
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