Julianna Pena Releases Statement Following UFC on ESPN 16 Defeat

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Julianna Pena is taking her loss at UFC on ESPN 16 in stride.

“The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner released a statement via Instagram after being choked unconscious by Germaine de Randamie in the third round of their bantamweight clash in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. In her post, Pena included a video of her daughter while expressing a desire to set a good example for her child.

“You win some, you learn some. Wasn’t my night! Massive Congratulations to [Germaine de Randamie] it was an honor to compete against you and thank you for your service of upholding the #thinblueline Thank you [Dana White] and [UFC]for the experience,” she wrote.

“I can’t wait to get back to this little love of mine!! I’ve missed her so much! Your kids don’t always follow your advice, a lot of times they follow your example. I’m uninjured and don’t want to take too much time off. I want to show my daughter that just because things didn’t go my way, doesn’t mean I quit or give up on my goals! This is a game of inches and I will hold my head up high and move on to my next challenge! Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my fight journey and sorry I didn’t walk away with the Win. And to those of you just tuning in, get your popcorn ready because I’ll be back soon!”

Pena had some success taking de Randamie down early in their featured matchup, but the Dutch kickboxer made her pay in Round 3 by securing the first submission victory of her MMA career. “The Venezuelan Vixen” has lost two of her last three Octagon appearances after beginning her promotional tenure with four consecutive triumphs.

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You win some, you learn some. Wasn’t my night! Massive Congratulations to @ironladymma it was an honor to compete against you and thank you for your service of upholding the #thinblueline Thank you @danawhite and @ufc for the experience #inabudhabi I can’t wait to get back to this little love of mine!! I’ve missed her so much! Your kids don’t always follow your advice, a lot of times they follow your example. I’m uninjured and Dont want to take too much time off. I want to show my daughter that just because things didn’t go my way, doesn’t mean I quit or give up on my goals! This is a game of inches and I will hold my head up high and move on to my next challenge! Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my fight journey and sorry I didn’t walk away with the Win. And to those of you just tuning in, get your popcorn ready because I’ll be back soon!

A post shared by Julianna Peña (@venezuelanvixen) on Oct 4, 2020 at 5:05am PDT