Julianna Pena recently pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the UFC history, after she emerged victorious with a second-round submission of now-former two-division champ Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. Pena was walking through the ARIA Resort and Casino with her cousins when a group of people surrounded her, chanting “Pena, Pena, Pena!”
Julianna Pena opens up on the incident
Her first response was to look around to see who they were cheering for at the Las Vegas casino. Then she remembered: She was the UFC champ.
“I’m like, ‘This is so awkward,’” Pena said on The MMA Hour. “I just kind of wanted find this random person, and to know that it was me…I know you step into the spotlight, but for me, I’m not this person that needs all that type of attention.”
Nina Nunes, the wife of Amanda Nunes recently spoke about the “mom champ” controversy that involves Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña. A comment made via social media by Nina Nunes this week supports Amanda’s claim that not giving birth to her child shouldn’t take away her status as the first “mom champ” of the UFC.
The issue raised after a comment from Peña, who after capturing the UFC bantamweight championship earlier this month, said at the UFC 269 post-fight press conference that she gave birth to her child. She claimed that makes her the first actual “mom champ” instead of Amanda Nunes.
It was after the UFC 269 press conference, Peña clarified her remarks in an interview that she wanted to reflect on how the pregnancy caused “massive changes” to her body and that she didn’t mean to take anything away from Nunes when stating this.
