Saturday night, at UFC 307, in the Co-Main Event of the PPV “The Venezuelan Vixen,” Julianna Pena defeated Raquel Pennington to become a two-time Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Pena won via a split decision, with two judges having it 48-47 for Pena and one judge scoring it 48-47 for Pennington. Pena joins Amanda Nunes as the second two-time UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
This was a weird fight because Pena quickly took Pennington down in the first two rounds and didn’t attempt a takedown in the championship rounds. Pena had over five minutes of control time, while both fighters finished the contest with 92 significant strikes. Pena landed nine more strikes. This decision was surprising, as Pennington had the upper hand in the later rounds of this fight. Although this was a close fight, a rematch between Pena and Pennington seems unlikely.
Kayla Harrison is the favorite at -300 on DraftKings Sportsbook to be the Women’s Bantamweight Champion on December 31, 2025. Pena has the second-best odds to end 2025 as champion at +300. Nunes and Pennington are tied at +1000 for the third-best odds.
Who should Pena’s first title defense be against?
- No. 3 Kayla Harrison
Harrison is a no-brainer choice to fight for the belt next after her performance at UFC 307. Harrison dominated Ketlen Vieira in a unanimous decision (30-37, 30-27 and 29-28) victory. Vieira put together a better showing than Holly Holm did in Harrison’s UFC debut. But Harrison still was never in danger of losing this contest. Harrison had 7:54 control time while landing 55 significant strikes compared to Vieira’s 24.
I’ll discuss a potential trilogy fight with Nunes below, but Pena vs. Harrison could be more significant. Harrison is arguably the most popular female fighter in the UFC and has the accolades and skills to back it up.
As the odds suggest above, Harrison most likely will be favored against Pena if they fight for the title in the next few months. Pena is a better striker than Harrison, but the two-time Olympic Gold Medalist creates massive problems for any opponent. This is likely the next title fight in this division. Harrison is the clear-cut No. 1 contender and has beaten two top 10 fighters in her first two UFC fights. When she signed with the UFC, everyone wondered how she would fare against the competition in the best MMA organization in the world. So far, she has lived up to the hype and more.
- Amanda Nunes
Pena called out Nunes after her fight and wants to finish their legendary rivalry with the trilogy bout. Nunes, 36, last fought at UFC 289 in June 2023 against Irene Aldana. After that fight, Nunes retired from the sport of MMA and stayed quiet during her exit. It is unknown if Nunes will return, but she posted this on X after Pena won the title.
Pena called a trilogy fight with Nunes “The Biggest fight in women’s MMA history,” if Nunes comes out of retirement, it has the potential to be just that. Pena submitted Nunes in the first fight, but Nunes dominated the current champion in the second bout.
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