Jon Anik isn’t sure Julianna Pena will leave Newark with the UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 316 on Saturday night, but he does believe the fight is much closer on paper than the betting odds — and a lot of the MMA fanbase — suggest.
Anik, who will call the action alongside Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier, has seen Pena enough to know that she can never be counted out. Case in point, “The Venezuelan Vixen” pulling off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history to win the title for the first time nearly four years ago.
“I just recently went back and watched Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena 1 [at UFC 269], and that’s all the film I need to watch right now,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “[Pena’s head coach] Rick Little has said, superlative to me over the years, just how mean and nasty she is. And man or woman, she is just a nasty f*cking prick, and I just think toughness, plus cardio, plus self-belief, plus just the desire to be in the trenches, right? She’s never looking for a way out. She’s not looking to tap because the going gets tough.
“And I think that’s what you need against an otherworldly decorated two-time Olympic champion like Kayla Harrison that has to deal with a fight before the fight, like few fighters really have to deal with. And that’s probably something that I shouldn’t say in a broad sense, but I can’t help but wonder aloud how many times Kayla Harrison is going to be able to make weight in defending this belt if she’s actually able to win it. I don’t know the answer.
“There’s not a UFC women’s featherweight division, as far as I’m concerned, right now, so there are a lot of question marks on the Kayla Harrison side. But I think for me, I’m just really encouraged by Juliana Pena’s experience, her doggedness, and her sort of — as trite as it sounds — never say die attitude.”
Pena became a two-time champ with a decision win over Raquel Pennington at UFC 307 this past October. Harrison made her second UFC appearance after a long and successful tenure with the PFL on that same card, earning a unanimous decision victory against Ketlen Vieira.
It’s been quite the build to the fight with Pena consistently trash talking Harrison, even accusing her of taking steroids throughout her career — which Harrison recently responded to while speaking with MMA Fighting.
While some call Pena’s fight-promoting style a bit cringy, Anik believes it’s part of a bigger plan for Pena.
“So I don’t know if Julianna Pena can shoot a basketball, but she looks really athletic at times in there,” Anik said. “When you look at some of the accuracy that she displayed against Amanda Nunes in those clutch moments of that fight, I think it is encouraging because the fight game can really be about a singular moment, and if she can create one early, it can change the entire complexion of the fight.
“Now, we could sit here and talk glowingly about Kayla Harrison. She is a 6-to 1-favorite and maybe you and I would say, perhaps, prohibitively. But I really do believe that Julianna Pena historically has been counted out. She’s being counted out again, and even if you think there’s some abrasion with the way she builds the fight, I do think if you just take her at her word, I love the way she promotes fights. I like what comes out of her mouth, I like the confidence. The issue might just be that the opponent is just that good.”
One of the storylines hanging over this bout is the potential return to competition for Nunes, a former two-division champ who retired as the bantamweight titleholder following her lopsided win against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023. “The Lioness” teased a comeback at the event’s first pre-fight press conference in April, and is 1-1 over two fights against Pena, and a fight with Harrison is one that fantasy matchmakers have discussed for years.
Does Nunes return? In Anik’s eyes, it likely depends on who is victorious on Saturday night.
“I don’t see any upside for Amanda Nunes in fighting Julianna Pena a third time except monetary upsides,” Anik explained. “So yeah, I think it would be the Kayla Harrison fight that would that would get her off the couch, so to speak.
“But, sometimes there’s just downside, right? Like going into this NBA postseason, it’s like there’s just so much downside for the Celtics. Only bad things can happen when I’m watching the Celtics in this defense of the championship, and I think for Amanda Nunes, if you’re talking straight legacy, as Zhang Weili chases her down to become the greatest women’s mixed martial arts athlete of all time, as Valentina Shevchenko continues to stack wins, opening the conversation for the greatest women’s mixed martial arts athlete of all time, is legacy enough to bring Amanda Nunes back. Is it money?
“I don’t know, but as far as I’m concerned, that Amanda Nunes status as the greatest women’s mixed martial arts athlete of all time has been challenged greatly over the last 12 months by Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili.”
