Julianna Peña wants to fight new women’s bantamweight champ Raquel Pennington as soon as she comes back. “Rocky,” however, refuses to take demands from the former champ, reminding her that she’s the champion now.
Pennington recently claimed the vacant bantamweight belt at UFC 297 after defeating Mayra Bueno Silva. “The Venezuelan Vixen,” who has always been vocal in reclaiming the belt, was not impressed with how the fight ended up and immediately made the callout to Pennington. Peña was reportedly one of the fighters considered to fight for the vacant title but was able to accept the offer due to injury. Nonetheless, with her condition getting better, the 34-year-old is now planning her return, and Pennington is first on her list.
In her callout, Peña expressed her intent to have their fight in June or July. However, Pennington also has other plans and believes Peña has no right to demand the timeframe of their match. In her recent interview with The MMA Hour, the new champ shared that her plan is to have it in August or September as she and her wife, a former UFC fighter, Tecia Torres, have plans in mind.
“I’m excited to finally punch her ass in the mouth, I’ll say that,” Pennington said. “That’s the one that makes sense… That’s the fight I want next… I don’t know why she thinks she calls the shots. I’m the champion now. I know she’s talking June or July, but Tecia’s got some exciting news coming back. It’s her focus now.
“I do want some time off. I want to spend time with my family… Tecia really held down the fought throughout this whole camp… I wanna let Tecia do her thing. So, I’m thinking, honestly, probably not until at least August, maybe September, or even later than that. We’ll see.”
