Exclusive Q&A: Julianna Peña looks for submission against Kayla Harrison

Julianna Peña (13-5) will defend the UFC women's bantamweight belt in the co-main event of UFC 316 against Kayla Harrison (18-1). Peña trains at the VFS Academy with Mike Valle, alongside Belal Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC), Yair Rodriguez (21-6, 1 NC) and Ignacio Bahamondes (17-5). 

She defeated Amanda Nunes in 2021 by submission in the second round, before losing in 2022 by decision. DAZN News spoke to the UFC champion. 

DAZN News: What do you think of your opponent, Kayla Harrison?

Julianna Peña: I think that my opponent is very big and strong. She's very good at judo, and she is definitely a worthy adversary.

DN: She comes from PFL. She doesn't have many fights in the UFC (2). Do you think that she has the experience to fight for the title?

JP: Does she have the experience to fight for the title? Absolutely. I mean, she's won two gold medals in the Olympics. If anybody has the least amount of experience in combat sports, I think it would be me.

DN: Any prediction?

JP: I'm going to win. I am going to get my hand raised. I'm going to enforce my will upon her and eventually wear her out. I'm looking for a submission victory. I'm saying round four, but maybe it'll come sooner.

DN: How was the face-off against Kayla? How do you find her?

JP: It was great for me. I feel great about it. When I'm looking into her eyes, I'm seeing everything that I need to see. And for me, I walked away feeling really good about that face-off.

DN: What does it mean to you to be champion?

JP: To me, I don't focus too much on being champion or not being champion. I care more about being a good person and making sure that I'm doing right by my daughter and by the people around me. This life is fast. It's fleeting. It's like you're a grain of sand in the Sahara Desert and boom, then life is over. So for me, these are things I can't take to heaven with me. So I just focus on trying to be a good person, making sure that I'm doing right by the people that are around me in my life and the people that matter the most to me. And the belt is just a cherry on top of that.

DN: Who do you want after this fight?

JP: Obviously, I would want Amanda Nunes for that trilogy fight.

DN: Why do you want to do the trilogy against her?

JP: We're one-on-one. If we're playing Rochambeau, and I win one, and you win one, do we walk away? Do we say that's it? There's not going to be another one? I was able to get a more dominant win. I believe that winning by rear-naked choke and her tapping the mat is more dominant than us going five rounds. I almost had her dead to rights in an armbar in the fourth round. I was in that fight every minute. Even after getting my head split open, I still got off of that bench, and I was still ready to give it my all and still fight for the remainder of the time. For me, I am an incredible warrior, and I'm never going to stop, and I'm never going to give up. And I'm inside that fight all 25 minutes. I would have gone longer if I could have, because that's just the type of person that I am.

DN: How do you look at your career?

JP: I look at my career as amazing. I was able to be the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. I tore four out of five ligaments in my knee. When I came back, I won in the first round against Milana Dudieva. That was a big feat for me because I didn't know if I was still going to be able to win after tearing four out of five ligaments in my knee. To be able to win at the highest level and still get my hand raised was a very great accomplishment for myself. When I got pregnant, I had an emergency C-section that I wasn't expecting, and it took me a lot longer to be able to come back from pregnancy. When I had my fight against Nicco Montaño, and I was able to get my hand raised in victory again, that was just another thing to say: you can win with knee injuries, you can win after having a baby. Then when I beat Amanda Nunes, it was just another one of those things where I am who I say I am. It doesn't matter the injuries, it doesn't matter the babies, it doesn't matter. I have always been an underdog in my career. I have never been a favorite in my career. I love nothing more than to silence people yet again. For me, my career has been pretty amazing. To be the first-ever woman to give birth and win a championship is something that nobody will ever be able to take away from me.

DN: How did you come back after having a baby?

JP: I took my time. I had an emergency C-section. For me, to be able to recover the right way, I had to use Mercier Therapy, and I had to make sure that I gave my body grace and time to lose the weight, to get back in shape, to make sure that my abs healed back together and that the organs had the blood flow that they needed. There were a lot of factors that came into being able to get back into victory after having a baby. But I believe that my baby gave me mom strength, and I was able to use her as a motivating factor to get my hand raised. I have that mom power. I'm the mom champ. I'm the first and only mom champ, meaning the first mom to give birth and win a championship - first and only. For me, that's an incredible accomplishment in my career.

DN: Do you think that you're getting the respect that you deserve?

JP: Oh, no, no, no. I don't think that they want me to be the champion. I don't think that they want me to be the face of the brand. I think that they would love nothing more than a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl to be in there and be taking that spot away from me, especially somebody who has an extensive background in judo like she does. She's trying to be the next Ronda Rousey, and that's what they’re looking for. They're a business machine, and I believe that they're in the business of making money. For me, I just feel like they're doing everything they can to get rid of me. But that's why fighting is so great, and that's why fighting is so amazing. The destiny is in my own hands, and I get to decide how this goes.

DN: Does that motivate you?

JP: I don't think I've ever gotten the respect that I deserve. I think that I've always been counted out. When I was on The Ultimate Fighter, they all thought that I was going to lose. They all hated me. Nobody wanted me to win, and then I ended up winning. I've always been in this position of nobody believing in me, but that is why I have such a strong belief and faith in myself. I know what I have gone through. I know the road that I've gone through, and what it's taken in order to get to where I'm at. I'm not going to be deterred by people's opinions or beliefs about myself. I have a strong faith, and I have a strong belief in myself. I know what I'm capable of doing. As long as I know, that's the most important thing.

DN: Any prediction for the main event, Merab Dvalishvili against Sean O’Malley?

JP: No, I don't have a prediction. I love Suga Sean O'Malley. I think Merab is great. I have nothing but the utmost respect for both of those gentlemen, and I just wish them a great fight with no injuries for either.

DN: Belal Muhammad says that you have one of the best coaches (VFS Academy) in UFC history. You are a family. What makes it so special?

JP: I think that in Chicago, it's a gigantic city, but in mixed martial arts, it's a very small community. In the Chicagoland area, VFS has something special going on there with Mike Valle. He's been able to produce an MMA team that has achieved a lot in the sport. And it is because we are a family. It is because we are a small, tight-knit community. We don't need state-of-the-art this or state-of-the-art that. We teach each other. We learn from each other. We're there for each other. We bleed together, we cry together, we sweat. And having that small, tight-knit community, I think, has been something special that has brought us the success we've had.

DN: Belal Muhammad fights at UFC 315 against Jack Della Maddalena. Any prediction?

JP: I think he's going to win. I don't know a harder worker than Belal Muhammad, and he deserves all of the good things that come his way because he is such a great person, and he has put in the work. And when you put in that much work, there's nothing left but to go in there and do your job. And I have faith that he will.