Amanda Nunes once saved her rival Julianna Pena by mentioning her daughter to a former opponent she did not defeat.
Pena, the current Bantamweight champion of the UFC ladies, is back in action in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday.
After his return to the throne, Pena will defend her title against Kayla Harrison in the UFC 316 Co-Main event, making it a scene for Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley's Rematch.
The Co-Headliner marks the chance of the Bantamweight Queen to do what she could not do in her first reign-to-defender with successfully the title. After Pena Amanda Nunes made up UFC 269, 'The Lioness' got revenge months later.
And the title is not the only thing that a nunes victory has achieved in Pena's past.
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Julianna Pena almost called her daughter after Valentina Shevchenko
Nunes defeated Nutley Valentina Shevchenko on UFC 215, who marks her second victory over 'Bullet' and second -year defense of the Bantamweight title.
Without the knowledge of the Brazilian, however, her championship fight also had a number of surprise interests for her at the time.
Pena was submitted by a brutal Shevchenko arm bar before taking a longer break of the competition while he was pregnant with her first child.
It turns out that 'the Venezuelan Vixen' was a big fan of the first name of her former opponent – that was to the result at UFC 215.
“It's funny enough, I didn't look at the fight – I still don't have that – but I said that if Valentina wins this fight, I would call my baby Valentina,” Pena told Ariel Helwani during an episode of 2017 of the MMA Hour.
“And at the end of the night I checked it. I just love that name. I don't know why, I just love the name Valentina. I think it is such a beautiful name. And she lost the fight, so I had something like:” No, her name is not Valentina. “
Pena noted that her connection with the name Valentina started well before her horrible loss for Shevchenko on UFC on Fox 23.
“Before I even knew that Valentina entered the division, as I had even thought of Valentina, I remember once (MMA manager) Danny Rubenstein told me that he had known this girl that these beautiful Mexican dresses made, and that she could make a custom dress, and I asked him, what is her name?” And he said, “Valentina.” And I had something like that, that is such a beautiful name. “
Julianna Pena celebrated UFC title Angry of her daughter of all time
Pena finally chose to name her daughter Isabella, who was present to witness her mother who made history in the T-Mobile Arena on December 11, 2021.
After being explained on a large scale in the run-up to her first title shot, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' conquered monumental underdog opportunities by submitting Nunes in round one of the UFC 269 Co-Main event.
The newly crowned champion was accompanied by her daughter in the cage when she and her team celebrated a victory that will always be etched in history as one of the greatest disruptions.
The 35-year-old now has the task of repeating the performance against another important favorite in Harrison, who has earned her first UFC title after a perfect 2-0 debut year.