Julianna Peña, a two-time UFC champion, has experienced a series of highs and lows in her career, reflected in her 3-2 record over her last five fights since 2020.
This Saturday at UFC 316, Peña is set to defend her title for the first time against two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison. She enters the co-main event bout as a significant underdog. Peña secured this title defense opportunity following a very close split decision win against Raquel Pennington, a fight that came after she suffered a decisively one-sided loss to Amanda Nunes in their 2022 rematch.
While Peña holds a notable submission victory over Nunes from their initial encounter, her win against Pennington last year is her only victory against an active fighter currently on the UFC roster. This specific career résumé, combined with her performances inside the octagon, leaves retired veteran Matt Brown perplexed about how Peña has reached her current position.
“I almost feel bad for Julianna going into this fight,” Brown commented on a recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I don’t know how she’s gotten as far as she has. I don’t like talking trash about fighters, I don’t want to put her down—hopefully she just doesn’t hear this—but she’s exactly one of the reasons I don’t enjoy most women’s MMA. Kayla is exactly one of the reasons I do enjoy some women’s MMA.”
Brown offered stark contrasts between the two fighters, praising Harrison enthusiastically.
“Kayla is a f*cking legit savage fighter and she’s good and it’s [enjoyable] to watch. Julianna, just being honest, I don’t know how she’s in the position she’s in. She doesn’t really do much of anything good. All due respect, I’m not trying to take a bunch of hate for it or anything but it just is what it is. I just don’t how you can fight that poorly and be in the top organization in the world.”
Brown suggests that Peña`s significant upset win over Nunes is the main factor propelling her to her current standing.
Nobody can diminish that win, but Brown speculates whether defeating Nunes ultimately created a more challenging path for Peña, leading her to face Harrison this weekend.
“The unfortunate part for her is she beats Amanda Nunes so of course now she gets a fight like Kayla Harrison but that’s unfortunate for her,” Brown stated. “It’s going to get her a little bit of press, we’re talking about it, she might get a little bit better payday for this, I don’t really know what her contract is or anything but now she’s got to go fight Kayla Harrison.”
He continued, anticipating Peña`s potential mid-fight realization: “That’s not going to be an enjoyable night for her. She might look back and be like ‘God, I wish I never beat Amanda Nunes, they would have never put me in this shit.’ She might start thinking that in the middle of the first round. Like god, how did my life turn out like this and why am I in this situation?”
While Brown doesn`t dismiss Peña`s initial victory against Nunes, he believes their second fight served as a more accurate representation of the skill disparity between them.
“I think in the second fight, Amanda put a good stamp on it and showed ‘I didn’t train for the first one, I didn’t respect this chick,’” Brown said, though he quickly added, “I never like that as an excuse. We’re supposed to be professionals.”
He drew a comparison to other surprising upsets, like Georges St-Pierre versus Matt Serra, suggesting that sometimes it simply comes down to who performs on a particular night, while avoiding the term “lucky punch.”
Regarding Kayla Harrison, Brown views her arrival as the necessary boost for the women’s bantamweight division, which he feels has lacked enthusiasm since the retirements of key figures like Nunes and Ronda Rousey.
Brown expressed strong confidence that Harrison will claim the UFC title on Saturday and effectively reset the division.
“Kayla is going to come in and demolish everybody and show them all what a real fighter is,” Brown predicted. “That’s exactly what the division needs. It’s what girls’ MMA needs. Just a real fighter coming in and showing them real skills.”
He specifically highlighted Harrison`s dominant performance against Holly Holm, noting that despite initial concerns about the weight cut, Harrison proved her capabilities.
“I thought Holly Holm had a good shot at beating her because I think Holly Holm is also a very good fighter. Didn’t have a chance. Like nothing. Once I saw that, I knew Kayla was great, but she never fought someone like Holly either. I was like we’ll see and with the weight cut … the weight cut had a lot of concerns but she showed she’s that girl. She’s the one that they needed and she’s here to f*ck people up.”
