Julianna Peña dominated Jessica Rakoczy to become the first ever female winner of the Ultimate Fighter. Peña wasted no time imposing her will on Rakoczy as she took her down twice in the first round, finally finishing her via ground and pound with just a second left on the clock.
Peña gained a lot of hype on the show after she defeated highly rated veteran, Shayna Baszler. After the victory she instantly became the favourite to win the entire competition and from then on in, nobody really got close to stopping her.
The nature in which she defeated all her opponents certainly raises the question of where Peña should be placed in the Womens Bantamweight Division. In the post fight press conference a journalist asked Peña how far away from a title shot she feels she is. She responded by saying that her ultimate goal is to become the UFC’s Bantamweight Champion and that she feels she would be ready for a title shot after another 2 or 3 fights.
Peña has taken every opportunity to have a dig at Ronda Rousey since the show finished and Saturday night was no exception. In a post fight interview she commented that Rousey had a bad attitude and that she was arrogant. With a potential grudge match brewing and no clear contenders lined up in the Womens Bantamweight division, it’s not crazy to assume that after a couple of good performances people could start to talk about Peña fighting for the title.
Still, like many have commented. The real hard work begins when fighters reach the UFC and Peña will have to keep finishing her opponents in impressive fashion to keep the hype train moving full steam ahead.
