Julianna Pena Expects to Face Winner of ‘Belt Warming’ Title Fight Upon Return

Julianna Pena claims the winner of the upcoming title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will only be “belt warming” until she returns to action.

Pennington (15-8) and Silva (10-2) will clash in the co-main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto with the vacant women’s bantamweight title on the line. For many, the booking came as a slight surprise due to the absence of Pena (11-5), who has been the only other woman besides Amanda Nunes to sit on the 135-pound throne in recent years.

Pena famously submitted Nunes at UFC 269 in 2021 in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport before losing the strap via a lopsided decision in a rematch the following year. “The Venezuelan Vixen” was then scheduled to face Nunes in a trilogy clash at UFC 289 this past June but had to pull out due to an undisclosed injury. “The Lioness” recorded yet another dominant decision win over short-notice replacement Irene Aldana before hanging up her gloves.

Pena revealed that she isn't part of the upcoming UFC 297 title fight because she has yet to completely recover from those injuries. However, she sounds confident that her next fight will be for the title against the winner of Pennington vs. Silva. Pena also elected not to reveal any details regarding her injury due to the nature of the sport.

“I’m sorry you guys are going to be force fed this horrible interim title fight — it’s going to be interim because they’re belt warming until I come back,” Pena recently said on "The MMA Hour.” “Apologies that I can’t compete, but my next fight will be for a title. Whoever wins between those two chicks, I’ll be fighting the winner.”

“I know that everyone didn’t believe me when I said I had to fall out when I was fighting Amanda [for the trilogy bout], but I legitimately did have an injury and I’m still trying to heal from that. I’m not trying to give out every single injury because you have to keep a couple of cards close to the chest, but I am injured. I won’t be back until summer.”