What comes to your mind when you hear “The Venezuelan Vixen”? It surely is someone who is lethal and dangerous. If this is what you thought then you are not far off from the bullseye, because this is a moniker by which UFC star Julianna Peña is known in the UFC world. The women’s bantamweight fighter with a 12-5-0 record is a force to be reckoned with. She is a fighter who marches to the beat of her drum and does not conform to others. The Latina athlete is creating a legacy, but why is she called ‘the Venezuelan Vixen’?

The star became the first female to win The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show for mixed martial arts. She paved the way for many female combat sports athletes because the show had never featured women before Pena. The champ had started into MMA through her sister who invited her to a women’s cardio kickboxing class to lose weight. This was where she found her love at first punch and did not look back ever since. Pena started getting involved in MMA classes and learned the whole sport. She had an interview with People Espanol where she shared about her life before MMA, her family, and even her hobbies outside MMA.

How did Julianna Pena start fighting?

She had become a pro in 2009 and started MMA way before that. After that, she won The Ultimate Fighter and was the first woman fighter to do so. She had to fight for it and always kept her confidence high. Before going to a fight, she carries some mementos that she collected throughout the years that her family and friends have given to her.

Dana White also picks her songs for her in the fights so far from The Ultimate Fighter finale up until her last fight. She also said in the People Espaniol interview, “I never like to know what I’m walking out to. I like to be surprised and I kind of had some bad superstitions with my walkout song in the past so I make sure that it’s random every time going forward. I don’t want to put so much pressure on myself to pick the perfect song. That way, I could focus more on the fight than the song.”

The fighter who is the proud mother of her daughter started in MMA at a very young age because of her sister. Since then she has never left combat sports. Her family was supportive of her career path even when she had three siblings. Her father wanted her to be stronger and once her family saw how dedicated she was to MMA, they supported him. After winning The Ultimate Fighter, there was no looking back. Pena who defeated Amanda Nunes, does not want her daughter to become a fighter like her. The main reasons are injuries and concussions. However, she will support her daughter in whatever she wants to do. Pena is set to fight at UFC 307 against Raquel Pennington. Do you think she will add another win to her bag?