Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena has a penchant for grabbing headlines with her words. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ was the queen of trash talk, and she has now met her match in Kayla Harrison, the promotion’s recent acquisition from the PFL. The pair will indeed fight down the line, and the 34-year-old has already sown seeds of animosity by accusing the American Top Team of rampant steroid use.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Pena recounted an instance when she was at ATT. “When Dan Lambert flew me out there and I went to train for a week after I won The Ultimate Fighter, they literally told me that all the girls are in the bathroom shooting each other in the ass with steroids. You know, I swear to God, and the thing is, I was like, I don’t believe this, I don’t want to hear it,” Pena revealed to Ariel Helwani.
“The guy took me by the shoulders, shaking me, like, ‘Juliana, I’m telling you, they all shoot each other in the ass in the bathroom.’ Like, he’s telling me this, so I have always thought that about ATT, you know, and no one’s ever going to change my mind,” Pena further added, revealing what Dan Lambert, ATT owner, told her at the time.
Rumors are that Pena will fight champion Raquel Pennington at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. The pair were teammates in season 18 of Ultimate Fighter, which the former won and became the first female winner. Afterward, Pena has plans to make blockbuster fights against Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison.
Julianna Pena Not Impressed by Kayla Harrison
Kayla Harrison joined the UFC as a multiple-time Olympic Gold medalist and PFL champion. Harrison dismantled Holly Holm, a former bantamweight champion, on her debut at UFC 300. The performance received rave reviews, but Julianna Pena seemed not impressed.
“Holly [Holm] is a legend and has done incredible things in the sport. I also know that she is on a different trajectory in her career, heading in a different direction. They were looking to promote Kayla [Harrison] as the next big thing. They got that in that fight,” Pena said.
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Nonetheless, Pena has plans to fight Harrison. In her ideal world, the Venezuelan Vixen would defeat Raquel Pennington to become a two-time champion. Afterward, she would settle the score with Amanda Nunes in a trilogy fight, followed by a Harrison fight.
