“I Got My Guts Ripped Open”- Julianna Pena Shares Details about Her Struggle through Pregnancy 

Julianna Pena, defeating Amanda Nunes, was surprising for many UFC fans. Not many people believed she would take out one of the biggest stars in female MMA history. Pena achieved this feat by locking a rare naked choke around Nunes.

In addition to becoming the bantamweight champion, Pena also got another title given to her. During the post-match interview, she shared how she wants to be known as the ‘First mom champ.‘ In 2018, Pena gave birth to her first child, a daughter. Consequently, the 32-year-old American touched on this career-altering experience in an interview on MMA Hours with Ariel Helwani.

The current bantamweight champion revealed, “My words were a thousand percent misinterpreted. I’m not trying to take away from Amanda as a mom champ by any means, but what I meant to say is you’re pregnant for 10 months actually and your body goes through massive changes”

She also talked about her pregnancy lasting for over 42 weeks. Pena described her experience after her doctor’s appointment by sharing, “They rushed me to the E. R., and I got my guts ripped open. I’m literally laying on the table and looking at my guts on the side, they gut me like a fish. They stuffed it all back in.”

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Julianna Pena’s road to recovery after pregnancy

In the same interview, Ariel talked about his tweet regarding Pena‘s pregnancy and how it got some hate. Ariel tweeted after Pena’s victory, calling her the first woman to give birth and then become a champion. Pena also shared her opinion and talked about her recovery process after her pregnancy.

She shared, “If it wasn’t for Mercier therapy, I wouldn’t have been able to get back into the octagon and I think that that process of healing and taking that extra time to do that Mercier therapy and taking the time to heal my body and get back to fighting and be able to perform at my peak is a lot”

Furthermore, Julianna pointed out that she wasn’t taking anything from Amanda, but wants people to see her as the new champion.

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What do you think about Julianna’s comment? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.