‘I Would Love a Rematch Against Amanda Nunes’- Julianna Peña Makes a Statement on Potential Valentina Shevchenko Fight

The newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña spoke to the media after her shocking upset win over Amanda Nunes. Peña secured the second-round RNC submission win over Nunes, who was certainly not on her A-game. The win is a massive footnote in Peña’s career as she’s been chasing Nunes and her world title for a long-time.

The win sent ripples through the MMA community, and Julianna Peña is keen to spice things up even more. She revealed her plans going forward in 2022, which included going on a spree of rematches to avenge some marquee losses. One such rematch was against the current flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, who defeated Peña back in January 2017.

The biggest upset in UFC 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘! @VenezuelanVixen is the NEW UFC BW champion #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/5nxFJQP44a

— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021

“I think that there are some rematches I want to do. I would like to go down and rematch Valentina Shevchenko, I would love to get that rematch against Germaine de Randamie. I would love a rematch against Amanda Nunes if that’s what she wants. Those are the rematches that I have in my peripheral.”

However, she is clearly also open to facing other mainstay names such as Amanda Nunes and Germaine de Randamie which would be big-time fights in their own right.

Also Read: Sean O’Malley Reveals a Potential Timeline for His Next Fight After UFC 269

Julianna Peña: Chasing greatness

A major motive for chasing a rematch against ‘The Bullet’ would be because that would give Peña a chance to become a double champion. Given her size and fighting style, trying to take Amanda Nunes’ 145-pound belt might be an ill-advised decision. Instead, she would be better served trying to test herself at a lower weight class.

Still on cloud 9 #AndNew

[ @VenezuelanVixen | #UFC269 ] pic.twitter.com/mQew1wBwa4

— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021

Peña isn’t a particularly massive bantamweight and she could benefit by going back down to flyweight. However, besting Shevchenko is easier said than done, especially when considering the way she has been dispatching her opponents recently. Julianna Peña has already done the impossible once and she will back herself to do it once again.

Valentina Shevchenko might not be quite as motivated to take the fight at flyweight and might want to move up in weight. ‘The Bullet’ will fancy her chances against Peña, now that Amanda Nunes is temporarily out of the picture. It remains to be seen which of the two champions will be given an opportunity to cement their ‘champ-champ’ status once 2022 rolls around.

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