Julianna Peña is in her second reign as UFC women’s bantamweight champion. In winning three of her past four fights, she has beaten two other champs. That’s the kind of résumé that should situate a fighter on top of the world. And yet the MMA world continues to discount Peña.
She defends her belt Saturday at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET), and despite her opponent, Kayla Harrison, being a relative newcomer who has been barely tested at the sport’s highest level, Peña will be the one going into the fight as a sizable betting underdog.
So what else is new?
For Peña, being overlooked is her life story. Growing up in Spokane, Washington, as the youngest of four children, she was a regular target of her older brother’s roughhousing. “He was a gigantic WWE fan, and he beat the snot out of me and my two older sisters,” Peña told ESPN, adding with a smile, “I was his favorite, because I would never cry, and, even though he was so much bigger and stronger than me, I kept attacking him with everything I had.”
Persevering through battle royals with an Andre the Giant wannabe fell right in line with her upbringing by a mother determined to instill toughness in her youngest.
“She used to tell me, ‘You will stand up for yourself,'” Peña…
