Loop Current UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña thinks former UFC champ Ronda Rousey is a “sellout.” The “Venezuelan Vixen” made her feelings known on a recent episode of “The MMA Hour.”
“Ronda is so old news, right?” Peña said during the show. “I think that what’s incredible about her is that she opened up the door and was destroying people in ten seconds and became a star because she was demolishing people in the first round. And that’s great.
“But she got knocked out twice and never came back, so how legit is she? She had to go to pro wrestling, and I get that, and I think that that’s great.”
The Vixen Speaks
“But as a fighter, and somebody who’s competitive, I know that deep down, it probably truly bothers her,” Peña continued. “The fact that she went away off of two knockout losses and never came back to make her name good.”
The mixed martial arts world is a community where rumors abound, opinions are vast, and ambition is high. So when fighters talk about each other negatively, it is hard to gauge fact from fiction in a business where hype creates opportunities.
However, Peña had a lot more to say.
The B Side Of Life
“If it really, truly does bother her and if it gets under her skin at the end of the day to know that her legacy is kind of like … ruined by the fact that she never came back and never got back on the horse, then I would like to invite her to please come back,” Peña said.
“And if she would like to come back, I would welcome her with open arms, but that’s the B side. The A-side is Amanda Nunes and fighting Amanda and what I have in front of me right now.”
Ouch. Peña is even disrespecting Ronda’s future promo poster if the two fought. The B side is the challenger who is positioned on the right side of a fight advertisement.
https://twitter.com/UFCasualy/status/1511199050263150601?s=20&t=FWR0aihS2cuPG8TA3AO6XA
The Champ Is Here
Last December, Peña shocked the world when she defeated Amanda Nunes in two rounds via a rear-naked choke at UFC 269. Nunes was on a twelve-fight win streak that included her becoming a double champ with titles in the bantam and featherweight divisions.
Earlier this year, the UFC announced that Nunes and Julianna Peña would be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 30, featuring heavyweights and women’s flyweights. Usually, the coaches fight once the reality show season is over, which means Peña and Nunes will run it back.
However, Peña feels Rousey isn’t someone deserving her respect in MMA.
The Vixen Chronicles
“She’s kind of a joke in the MMA world now,” Peña continued. “What is the word? Sellout, little bit of a sellout there. I guess I understand, right?
“Like, pro-wrestling, it’s fake, you get paid millions of dollars. I get it. But for me, for the real sh*t, for, like, the ‘you’re the real deal,’ I would say that that’s in the UFC and if she ever wants any of that real smoke, I’m ready.”
Julianna Peña is providing a lot to unpack, given the legacy the UFC and many MMA faithful have given Ronda Rousey as a pioneer. However, she leaves the door open for a return run, possibly immediately against the champ.
