{"id":8987,"date":"2017-01-27T02:48:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T02:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987"},"modified":"2017-01-27T02:48:25","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T02:48:25","slug":"julianna-pena-ready-to-take-over-for-ronda-rousey-as-face-of-womens-mma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987","title":{"rendered":"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women’s MMA"},"content":{"rendered":"
Julianna Pena will take on Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of a UFC on Fox card Saturday. (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Julianna Pena is a multi-tasker, and on this day, as she\u2019s climbing a mountain to prepare for her women\u2019s bantamweight bout against Valentina Shevchenko on Saturday in Denver, she\u2019s also doing an interview.<\/p>\n

And before long, the subject turns, at least tangentially, to one of her least favorite topics: Ex-champion Ronda Rousey.<\/p>\n

The day before the interview, a column in the <\/span>New York Post appeared online <\/span>with the headline, \u201cRonda Rousey\u2019s fall is the end of women\u2019s MMA as we know it.\u201d Asked about it, Pena responded as she does in the Octagon, by attacking aggressively.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t read it, so I can\u2019t comment specifically on it, but the end of women\u2019s MMA as we know it? Please,\u201d she said. \u201cRidiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pena isn\u2019t about to discuss the Post piece at any length, though. With a win, she may get the next shot at Amanda Nunes\u2019 title, and she\u2019s bound and determined not to get caught thinking about anything other than how to defeat Shevchenko.<\/p>\n

And that surely means that she won\u2019t agree to spend much time discussing Rousey or the impact that her second loss in a row had on the division.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one time, Gina Carano was the face of women\u2019s MMA and when she moved out, Ronda came in,\u201d Pena said. \u201cAnd now that Ronda is on the way out, a new face has to come forward and carry the torch and I\u2019m willing to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2026 But unless we\u2019re fighting and we\u2019ve got a fight scheduled, I don\u2019t really care to talk about the girl, because she\u2019s irrelevant. I\u2019m the present and it\u2019s my fight with Valentina that matters, not anything about her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pena and Shevchenko, <\/span>who defeated Holly Holm in her last outing, are at the top of a division that is clearly in flux after Rousey\u2019s back-to-back one-sided losses and ex-champion Miesha Tate\u2019s retirement.<\/p>\n

\n

There is a tinge of bitterness to Pena\u2019s voice as she discusses her career arc. After winning the first season of women on \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter,\u201d she was <\/span>sidelined by a knee injury <\/span>that kept her out more than a year.<\/p>\n

She was impressive in her last two fights, unanimous decision wins over Jessica Eye and Cat Zingano. After the <\/span>win over Zingano at UFC 200, Pena approached UFC president Dana White about landing a title fight. And White told her that he was going to give the next shot to Rousey.<\/p>\n

It stung hearing those words because Nunes had said she was willing to fight Pena.<\/p>\n

She said she wanted to fight me and she admitted publicly that she would when it looked like Ronda wasn\u2019t coming back,\u201d Pena said. \u201cBut when Ronda decided to come back, she decided she didn\u2019t want to fight me and she wanted to fight Ronda. So I kind of got bumped out of that title shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when I had to deal with that, not getting a title shot, I said that the fight that I wanted, the fight asked for, was against Valentina. I\u2019m willing to fight anyone in the world, but this is the most important fight right now because it would clearly establish that I should get the next title shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll have earned it, with consecutive wins over Eye, Zingano and Shevchenko, because Shevchenko has proven herself to be a formidable foe in her brief stint in the UFC.<\/p>\n

In her first UFC bout, she defeated ex-Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman. She took on Nunes at UFC 196 and after falling behind badly early, she put on a furious late rally and wound up just short.<\/p>\n

And then in her last fight, she clearly defeated Holm in Holm\u2019s first bout since losing her title to Miesha Tate at UFC 200.<\/p>\n

Shevchenko, whose mother has a black belt in taekwondo and introduced her to the martial arts, doesn\u2019t display her emotions as outwardly as does Pena, but they share common thoughts.<\/p>\n

She said she believes it would be \u201ca very different result,\u201d if she met Nunes a second time, but knows that Pena is a significant obstacle in her path.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulianna is an excellent fighter, that is true, but I believe this is my time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She was 5 when her mother put her into martial arts classes, and even though she wasn\u2019t all that interested at the time, it was the best thing that could have happened to her.<\/p>\n

She learned to love it and found she was good at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was my destiny to do this and to be a champion,\u201d she said. \u201cTo start the way I did and to finish with the world title, that would pretty amazing. I know it\u2019s just a matter of time before I fight for the title and when they said \u2018Do you want to fight Julianna?\u2019 I was OK with that because I believe in what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Julianna Pena will take on Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of a UFC on Fox card Saturday. (Getty) Julianna Pena is a multi-tasker, and on this day, as she\u2019s climbing a mountain to prepare for her women\u2019s bantamweight bout against Valentina Shevchenko on Saturday in Denver, she\u2019s also doing an interview. And before long, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38],"tags":[1222,784],"yoast_head":"\nJulianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Julianna Pena will take on Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of a UFC on Fox card Saturday. (Getty) Julianna Pena is a multi-tasker, and on this day, as she\u2019s climbing a mountain to prepare for her women\u2019s bantamweight bout against Valentina Shevchenko on Saturday in Denver, she\u2019s also doing an interview. And before long, …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buyingforbeauty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/f818a7d9aa8764354e70086b3926005a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TheFastFashion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TheFastFashion\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987\",\"name\":\"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women’s MMA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/\",\"name\":\"TheFastFashion.com\",\"description\":\"Fashion, Life Style, Beauty, Makeup, Costume...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810\",\"name\":\"TheFastFashion\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TheFastFashion\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com","og_description":"Julianna Pena will take on Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of a UFC on Fox card Saturday. (Getty) Julianna Pena is a multi-tasker, and on this day, as she\u2019s climbing a mountain to prepare for her women\u2019s bantamweight bout against Valentina Shevchenko on Saturday in Denver, she\u2019s also doing an interview. And before long, …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987","og_site_name":"TheFastFashion.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buyingforbeauty","article_published_time":"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":449,"url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/f818a7d9aa8764354e70086b3926005a.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TheFastFashion","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TheFastFashion","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987","url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987","name":"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women's MMA - TheFastFashion.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-27T02:48:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=8987#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Julianna Pena ready to take over for Ronda Rousey as face of women’s MMA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/","name":"TheFastFashion.com","description":"Fashion, Life Style, Beauty, Makeup, Costume...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6724c5c91d5889cf040718d048e9c810","name":"TheFastFashion","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/165dc3997dd8e848f9e4cb8574ab2042?s=96&r=g","caption":"TheFastFashion"},"url":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8989,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions\/8989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}