After earning a win over Cat Zingano at UFC 200 (see it ), Julianna Pena called for a shot at the title, which is now in the grasp of Amanda Nunes following the Brazilian's first-round submission win over Miesha Tate on the monumental pay-per-view (PPV) event.
And her confidence is sky high, too, as she warned "Leoa" that she would ragdoll her up and down the Octagon once she gets her hands on her. Comments that didn't startle the new champion, as she declared on The MMA Hour that she wasn't too impressed with Pena's win.
According to Nunes, the "Venezuelan Vixen" doesn't have the killer instinct to finish a fight -- even when it's handed to her a silver platter.
"I saw her fight. I wasn't impressed at all. I am not impressed with her performance, I watched her fight in the locker room. Congratulations to her, she beat Cat, but I know I'm going to be champion for a long time. Whatever comes, Julianna, Ronda, I will be ready for them. She didn't go to the fight to finish. She took too much time. Cat give her a lot of space to finish the fight but she don't know how to take those moments. That was her mistake. That's why I'm not impressed. She doesn't know how to see the moments in the fights to finish them."
To her credit, the TUF 18 champ has two first-round finishes inside the Octagon.
After her latest win, Pena put herself in a position to get first dibs on facing Nunes, but should Holly Holm come out with an impressive win over Valentina Shevchenko at this weekend's (Sat., July 23, 2016) UFC on FOX 20 event in Chicago, Illinois, she may have to wait a little bit longer.
Plus, if Ronda Rousey decides to flip the script and come back to the cage sooner, rather than later, then Pena's going to have to climb back into the cage to rack up another win. This time, she might want to get that finish if she wants to impress the current champion.