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UFC 297: Ex-Champ Sends Bold Warning Ahead of Title Fight

The vacant UFC women's bantamweight belt is up for grabs this weekend.

Drew Beaupré

UFC 297: Ex-Champ Sends Bold Warning Ahead of Title Fight
UFC 297: Ex-Champ Sends Bold Warning Ahead of Title Fight /

The women's bantamweight division should finally crown a new champion at UFC 297 this Saturday, but former titleholder Julianna Peña has made it clear she intends to reclaim the belt as soon as possible.

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“The Venezuelan Vixen” caused one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when she submitted longtime champion Amanda Nunes to claim the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 269 in 2021.

Peña lost her immediate rematch with Nunes before she was forced to withdraw from a planned trilogy fight at UFC 289. With the vacant title up for grabs at UFC 297 this weekend the former champion has sent a message to a few of the UFC’s top female fighters.

The expertly edited image features Mayra Bueno Silva and Raquel Pennington, who will meet for the vacant bantamweight belt in Toronto this Saturday. Peña also decided to include Maycee Barber, who is currently ranked at #6 in the women’s flyweight division.

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“The Venezuelan Vixen” has previously traded words with Barber, but unless she plans to immediately chase another UFC title in a new weight class it seems likely that Peña will try to position herself to take on the winner of Bueno Silva vs. Pennington for her next outing. 

Plenty of fans are eager to see which woman will claim the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 297 on Saturday, although Sean Strickland has openly criticized the fact that a women's fight will feature as the co-main event before he defends his middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis in the card’s headlining bout.

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