Julianna Pena Is Not Ready To Challenge For The UFC Women's Bantamweight Title

Even though Julianna Pena is up for consideration to receive the next shot at the UFC women's bantamweight title, it would be wise for her not to accept it. This is because Pena has an incredibly similar striking style to that of Miesha Tate as they both heavily rely on one striking combination where they throw a left jab followed by the straight right hand with the intention of getting their opponents to focus on blocking the combination. If the opponent decides to standstill and blocks the combination it gives them a small window of opportunity to get the fight to the ground. But that is where the similarities between them end as Tate likes to duck down and shoot for a traditional single or double leg wrestling takedown. On the other hand, Pena likes to get her opponents in a body lock and immediately go for an inside trip on the right leg or she will push her opponents back to the fence and then go for an inside trip. However, this type of striking style can put them in real danger because if their opponents decide not to block, they can take one or two steps back once they start to throw the combination thus giving their opponents several opportunities to land a counter strike.

Therefore, it would be ill-advised for Julianna Pena to accept a title shot while Amanda Nunes is the champion because if she decides to use this type of striking style against Amanda Nunes, it will increase the likelihood of an early finish for Nunes. This is because all she has to do is take one or two steps back once Pena starts to throw the combination and land the straight right or lead left hook and it will most likely rock Pena. The only way i can see Pena winning the fight is if she is able to stay on the outside of striking range and constantly throw the jab for the first two rounds which gives her an opportunity to win the rounds and move out of the way before Nunes is able to land a counter. Furthermore she increases her chances of surviving the most dangerous aspect of fighting Nunes because Amanda has a tendency to dramatically slow down after the first two rounds thus giving Pena a chance to implement her typical game plan. But unfortunately, I don't expect her to use this type of style for the first two rounds which means that Nunes should win the fight.