Julianna Pena thinks Taila Santos was robbed against Valentina Shevchenko.
Flyweight champion Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) notched her seventh title defense when she edged out Santos (19-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at UFC 275 on in June. She had to battle through some early adversity to get the win.
Santos got Shevchenko down and took her back on a couple of occasions, but the champion was able to battle out of danger and rally to win the fight. However, UFC bantamweight champion Peña (11-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) thinks the judges got it wrong.
“I had Taila winning,” Peña said in an interview with The Schmo. “She beat her with one eye, and she still lost. It was horrible.”
Shevchenko holds a win over Peña. She submitted “The Venezuelan Vixen” in the second round in a bantamweight bout in 2017. With Shevchenko pondering a move back up to 135 pounds, Peña hopes she gets the opportunity to avenge her loss.
“I know that me and Valentina also have some unfinished business that I would like to get that rematch and run it back, as well,” Peña said. “But I definitely thought that Taila did enough to win, and I was disappointed that she didn’t get the nod.”
After capturing the bantamweight title with a shocking upset submission finish at UFC 269, Peña is set to rematch Amanda Nunes in the UFC 277 main event July 30.
“This is going to be the biggest, toughest, strongest, fastest, scariest Amanda Nunes that we’ve ever seen, and I am absolutely ready for anything and everything,” Peña said.
