Former UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña says her UFC 316 loss was preceded by weeks of significant health issues.
Julianna Peña‘s second UFC bantamweight title reign came to an abrupt end at the hands of Kayla Harrison at UFC 316 earlier this month. In the closing seconds of Round 2 of their highly-anticipated grudge match, Harrison submitted Peña with a kimura to add a UFC title to her stellar MMA career.
It was a disappointing loss for Peña after defeating Raquel Pennington for the belt at UFC 307 in October. She was supposed to face Amanda Nunes in a trilogy bout at UFC 289 before withdrawing due to injury.
Peña entered UFC 316 as a significant underdog, despite being the defending champion in the matchup, against the global superstar Harrison. But it turns out Peña was fighting against higher odds than most realized.
Julianna Peña’s ‘dibs’ on Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes winner makes sense after revealed injuries
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Peña revealed her body was severely compromised entering UFC 316 against Harrison.
“I was plagued with several injuries heading into that fight. It wasn’t a good camp for me in that sense, because I knew that I was going into the fight with a pretty severe handicap,” Peña said.
“It crossed my mind [to withdraw] but it wasn’t bad enough to the point where I would have to not fight, because I knew I was going to be able to push through. But it’s a funny thing that my coaches didn’t explain the severity of the situation to me, otherwise I would’ve thought more heavily on not competing. I don’t regret competing, I put in too much time and I’ve taken away too much time from other people, my daughter, my coaches and their families. So I don’t regret competing, I just wish I could’ve competed under better circumstances.
Peña was then pushed to explain the injuries she suffered through during her training camp.
“Second week of May I broke my thumb on my training partner, and it was swollen, looked like someone hit me in the hand with a hammer. It was really difficult to grip, and it still is really difficult,” Peña said. “Then I took a really bad fall in the Octagon and I tore my elbow, broke off a ton of bone chips so that I wasn’t able to straighten my arm or bend my arm fully…it was so swollen and the MRI and X-Rays showed a tear and a lot of bone chips in the back of that, so going into a fight 10 days out, it’s just excruciating and it’s very painful, hard to throw a punch and extend.”
Peña could potentially return to the Octagon by year’s end if all goes well with her upcoming surgeries. She also admitted that the arm that Harrison submitted at UFC 316 was the same arm that was compromised during her camp.
Julianna Peña shared her prediction for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes
With Peña on the sidelines, the women’s bantamweight division will prepare for a highly-anticipated super fight between Harrison and Nunes, potentially for later this year. Nunes confirmed her return to the Octagon when she faced off with Harrison in the cage at UFC 316.
Peña has a lot of history with both Harrison and Nunes, and says she’ll be cageside to watch the fight play out whenever it comes to fruition. In the interview referenced above, Peña said that Nunes will ‘probably’ defeat Harrison and that it’s the outcome she’s rooting for.
Peña called ‘dibs’ on facing the Harrison vs. Nunes winner after the fight plays out. It’s uncertain if she’ll take another fight in the meantime, but in either case, Peña is focused on recovering from her various ailments.
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