Julianna Pena brought to tears by bonus money; ready for Ronda Rousey
It's tough for any fighter to put their career on hold due to an injury, but it was especially excruciating for "Ultimate Fighter" winner Julianna Pena to miss more than a year of action after shredding her right knee just a few weeks before her second scheduled fight in the Octagon.
Pena demolished the competition on season 18 of the reality show and immediately entered the top 15 rankings, where expectations were high that she could be a legitimate challenger to UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Instead, Pena had to rehab a knee injury that tore through every major ligament in her leg, so returning on Saturday and picking up a dominant, first-round victory over Milana Dudieva just made it all that much sweeter.
"I'm just happy to be here. I'm pumped to get back in the cage," Pena said at the UFC Fight Night post-fight press conference. "It's been a long, grueling road this last year and a half trying to get my knee back where it was, and now that I'm here I've got to stay positive and I've got to believe in myself and I most certainly do."
The win was dramatic enough, but Pena was moved to tears on the dais after UFC officials informed her she won a $50,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus for her win over Dudieva. Based on having only one previous UFC fight, against Jessica Rakoczy in 2013, Pena made only $16,000 in victory, and since she's been out of action for the past year, her paychecks have stopped altogether.
The bonus money brought tears to Pena's eyes after a year spent without any serious income.
"I don't want to talk about it; I'm going to start crying because that's like the best thing that's ever happened to me. It really is," Pena said.
Part of the joy also comes as validation for Pena after she was passed over for all of the seasonal bonuses during "The Ultimate Fighter", not to mention that her win in the finale, a TKO victory, still didn't win her an award from the UFC.
"When I was on 'The Ultimate Fighter', I finished everybody on that show. At the end of the season, on who they think should get the bonuses, I didn't get submission of the season, I didn't get fight of the season, I didn't get any wins or any bonuses on that. When I fought on the finale, Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz stole my knockout money of the night, so I didn't get that.
"I feel like I'm never getting bonused on anything and that's probably my fault for being out for a year, but it's just a blessing. Emotions are overflowing in me right now because I really needed it."
The money certainly will help Pena's bank account recover and the win over Dudieva resurrects her standing in the bantamweight division. Now Pena can get back to business with her eye on the ultimate prize of one day winning the title.
"I've got to get and fight somebody in the top five in order to get a title shot," Pena said. "So that's my goal."
Pena has long believed that once she finally earns the shot, she will be the person to dethrone Rousey inside the Octagon. Pena and Rousey weren't exactly close when they were on opposite sides during "The Ultimate Fighter" and there's no love lost now that they both are competing in the same division.
Pena has said she's probably still a few fights away from facing Rousey, but if the opportunity came up tomorrow, she would jump at the opportunity.
She even would step in to replace UFC 190 main event fighter Bethe Correia if the Brazilian somehow got injured between now and Aug. 1 when she's scheduled to meet Rousey in Brazil.
"I believe that if somebody knocked on my door and wanted to get in a fist fight tomorrow morning, that either I know how to fight or I don't," Pena said. "So I know how to fight and yeah, I would if that was the scenario."
