Giuliana Penha hopes to take part in the championship conversation every time she returns to action.
“Venezuela’s Vixen” was short on Saturday in the first defense of the second bantamweight championship rule at UFC 316, where she was submitted by Kela Harrison in the evening’s co-main event. Harrison then returned Amanda Nunes from the crowd to face her in the cage, laying the foundation for a dream match between two of the most skilled women in the history of combat sports.
Regardless of how that fight progresses, 35-year-old Peña plans to line up in the next line. She issued a statement on the defeat on Sunday, informing her rivals that she wanted the winner of their upcoming matchup.
“I’m calling Dib to the winner, so please heal me and prepare for the next fight!” Pena wrote on Instagram. See her post below.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t get the job done,” Pena wrote. “I’m extremely disappointed, but I’m wearing a hat on Kela in her victory!”
Peña is currently 0-2 in defense of the UFC title across two stints on the Bantamweight belt. She stripped off Nunes’ legendary upset at UFC 269 and quickly reverted the title to “Liones” in a rematch seven months later. Pena again won the title this October with a decisive decision contested against Raquel Pennington at UFC 307, but once again fell as champion when he met Harrison last Saturday.
While there hasn’t been an official announcement for Harrison vs. Nunes yet, there are all reasons to assume that the match will be officially booked this year and will take place in the second half of 2025 or early 2026.
Harrison improved to 3-0 in the UFC and improved to 19-1 overall, earning a dominant victory over Peña. The 34-year-old Ohio native joined Henry Sejude and became the UFC champion, with Harrison winning two Olympic golds. She began her career in the PFL, winning two league tournaments for 145 pounds.
Nunez, 37, a former UFC champion in two categories of bantamweight and featherweight divisions, recently announced that she will be coming out of retirement. She first cut her gloves in 2023 after winning the sixth successful whole bantamweight title defenseman, Irene Ardana. Since 2014, Nunes has put together a record of 14-1, with her only loss in Pena’s hands.