Norma Dumont recently slammed Julianna Peña, who will be competing in the upcoming UFC women’s bantamweight title fight.
Peña is scheduled to challenge Raquel Pennington for the bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 307 on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to Dumont, Peña’s upcoming title shot would be an insult to other fighters in the division, as he believes the “Venezuelan Womanizer” has done nothing to deserve a title fight.
Peña’s biggest claim to fame is defeating Amanda Nunes by submission at UFC 269 in 2021 to win the bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Dumont claims Peña’s win over Nunes was a night when “The Lioness” was not at her normal best. Dumont also reflected on Peña’s one-sided beating before losing a unanimous decision to “The Lioness” in their rematch at UFC 277 in July 2022. Dumont believes it’s really unfair that the next title fight is given to Peña, considering she hasn’t fought since then.
“It was really an insult to the entire department,” Dumont said. MMA Mania“Juliana hadn’t actually won a fight, hadn’t fought in a long time. Even the day she beat Amanda, Amanda wasn’t Amanda. She wasn’t there. And then the next fight, she got beaten to the bone. Three nights’ worth of beaten down in one night. That was the real Juliana. And for two and a half years she ran away from fights that were offered to her, that she was given gifts, that she fought for the belt. So, yes, this is not good. It’s an insult to the division, but it’s not the first time this has happened.”
Dumont doesn’t consider Pennington a dominant champion, but he thinks Peña is bad enough for “Rocky” to retain his title at UFC 307.
“I think Raquel will win this fight, not because I think she’s the dominant champion, because I don’t think she is,” Dumont said. “I just think Julianna is that bad, she got submitted by Germaine. [de Randamie]Well, it’s weird to say Raquel will win, but I think she’ll win this time.”
Dumont, who is currently on a four-fight winning streak, is scheduled to face Irene Aldana at UFC 306 on September 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
