‘Can I Get Some Respect?’- Julianna Peña Not Happy with UFC Commentary Team

Newly minted UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña stunned the entire MMA community at UFC 269 when she picked up the upset win. Peña defeated consensus women’s GOAT Amanda Nunes via RNC submission, despite being a massive underdog. Nunes gassed out in the contest and was visibly breathing out of her mouth at one point in the second round.

Chiefly, Peña has been calling out her shot against Nunes since UFC 200 and has been confident in her ability to beat her. Despite her self-confidence, many fans and pundits were quick to dismiss Peña, and this didn’t sit well with ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’. After the fight, she spoke to the media and aired out her frustration over being counted out by the MMA world.

“I definitely think that people have been sleeping on me and they have not been putting any respect on my name. They haven’t been giving me as much credit as I feel like I deserve. Whenever the commentators talk about Amanda Nunes, they’ll say everybody’s name but mine.”

Moreover, she talked about how people can’t seem to spell her name correctly despite her status as a title challenger. Peña would certainly be pleased to prove her detractors wrong with her statement-making performance.

“They can’t even spell my name right. They don’t even put the ~ over the ‘n’. There’s little things where I’m like ‘Man, can I get some respect. With that being said, I wasn’t surprised.”

Also Read: Sean O’Malley Reveals a Potential Timeline for His Next Fight After UFC 269

What’s next for ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’?

Julianna Peña has many options going forward, however, her most prominent one remains a rematch with Nunes. Given Nunes’ run as the GOAT, it’s safe to say that she is entitled to a rematch if she so chooses.

UFC President Dana White and Peña herself cosigned this notion and thus far, all that remains is Nunes’ confirmation. Peña believes she was counted out in the fight, however, the lines may once again reflect her to be the underdog against Nunes. ‘The Lioness’ was nothing less than a conqueror during her reign as champion and she hadn’t lost since September 2014.

What do you think? Is Peña justified in feeling slighted as the underdog?

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