Julianna Pena vs Sara McMann Pushed Forward One Week; Will Take Place at UFC 257

The fight between veteran bantamweights Julianna Pena and Sara McMann has been rescheduled. The fight was supposed to take place on January 16 at UFC Fight Island 7. It has now been pushed forward by a week to UFC 257, which will be headlined by Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. 

Pena and McMann are ranked seventh and ninth respectively in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Both women have not been able to put together a good run of wins lately. A win will undoubtedly help both women as one aims to continue to her win streak while another aims to bounce back from a win.

Read: Top 5 female fighters of 2020 

Julianna Pena vs Sara McMann will be a delight at bantamweight

Multiple reports have confirmed that the fight has been shifted to the PPV card. A reason for the same has not been disclosed thus far. 

‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ has been in the UFC since 2013. She started her career in the promotion brilliantly winning all of her fights in the UFC and moving to 4-0. Valentina Shevchenko handed Pena her first loss in the promotion when the two women faced each other in January 2017. 

Since the loss, Julianna bounced back with a win over Nicco Montano. Most recently, she succumbed to a loss against former title challenger Germaine de Randamie in October this year. She is currently 1-2 in her last three fights in the UFC.

Olympic silver medalist McMann, on the other hand, has been in the UFC for seven years and has previously challenged for the title against Ronda Rousey. She is currently 1-2 in her last three fights as well. Sara put an end to a two-fight skid when she secured a unanimous decision win over Lina Lansberg earlier this year. She will be hoping to build on her recent win and secure a second win on the trot for the first time since 2016, and in the process work her way up to another title shot against ‘The Lioness.’

What do you make of a fight between Julianna Pena and Sara McMann at UFC 257? Will Sara be able to make 2-0 or will Pena be able to bounce back into the win column?