Rivalries: Julianna Pena

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 269 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Julianna Pena has endured something of a rollercoaster ride since she joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster eight-plus years ago, but “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 18 winner now finds herself on the precipice of the highest of highs.

Pena will challenge Amanda Nunes for the undisputed women’s bantamweight championship when she meets the future hall of famer in the UFC 269 co-main event on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Spokane, Washington, native has recorded six wins across her eight appearances inside the Octagon. Pena last competed at UFC 257, where she submitted 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their Jan. 23 pairing.

As Pena inches ever closer to her pivotal showdown with Nunes, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape her career to this point:

Jessica Eye

Takedowns, elbow-laden ground-and-pound and a few near submissions carried Pena to a unanimous decision over the former Ring of Combat champion in a UFC 192 women’s bantamweight showcase on Oct. 3, 2015 at the Toyota Center in Houston. All three cageside judges scored it 29-27 for “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 18 winner. Eye was her own worst enemy. She had issues staying upright and controlling “The Venezuelan Vixen” on the mat, and in the second round incurred some self-inflicted damage, as she was deducted a point for an illegal knee strike to the head from the bottom. The penalty cost her the round and valuable momentum: She had threatened Pena with an arm-triangle choke and staggered her with a two-punch combination just before the bell. Pena executed a takedown inside the first 20 seconds of Round 3, eventually climbed to the back and cinched a tight rear-naked choke. Eye escaped but later wandered into a one-armed guillotine, as Pena’s stellar work on the ground punctuated what was at the time the most significant victory of her career.

Cat Zingano

Pena overcame some early adversity to claim a unanimous decision over the former two-division Ring of Fire champion in the featured UFC 200 prelim on July 9, 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Sikjitsu mainstay swept the scorecards with 29-28 nods from all three cageside judges. Zingano—in her first assignment since a 14-second submission loss to Ronda Rousey—controlled the first five minutes with takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound. Pena was undeterred. She flipped the switch in Round 2, where she reversed a takedown, advanced to Zingano’s back, set her hooks and fished for the rear-naked choke. Though Pena’s bid for a submission failed, momentum was firmly in her corner. She picked up where she left off in the third round, executing a takedown inside the first 10 seconds before hammering away at Zingano with ground-and-pound and again shifting to her back.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 269 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Valentina Shevchenko

“Bullet” cemented her claim as the No. 1 contender for the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight title when she submitted Pena with an armbar in the second round of their UFC on Fox 23 headliner on Jan. 28, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Shevchenko drew the curtain 4:29 into Round 2, flexing the world-class skills that eventually led to her becoming one of the sport’s most revered champions. The Pavel Fedotov protégé answered aggression with cold calculation. Shevchenko surprised “The Venezuelan Vixen” with a pair of takedowns from the clinch in the first round, peppering her with ground-and-pound before evading an attempted armbar. Pena turned the tables in the second, where she executed a takedown of her own and set up shop in the Tiger Muay Thai standout’s full guard. She was content to strike from there, even as Shevchenko moved her legs and hips into position for the armbar. The Kyrgyzstan superstar maintained her grip on the maneuver through a desperate scramble, extended Pena’s arm and left her no choice but to raise the white flag.

Germaine de Randamie

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s featherweight titleholder continued her evolution as a mixed martial artist and put Pena to sleep with a guillotine choke in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 16 attraction on Oct. 3, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The emphatic conclusion came 3:25 into Round 3. De Randamie dropped the Sikjitsu standout to a knee with a clean right hand in the first round, only to see her momentum interrupted by a late takedown. Pena tripped the decorated muay Thai practitioner to the floor less than 90 seconds into the middle stanza, applied her ground-and-pound and fished for a guillotine of her own before surviving an attempted Von Flue choke from the Dutchwoman. “The Venezuelan Vixen” scored with a right cross-left hook combination to start the decisive third round, moved into clinch range and changed levels for a takedown. However, she left her neck exposed in her haste to return to the mat, and de Randamie laced her arms into the guillotine before her opponent could respond. Soon after, Pena lost consciousness in her clutches.