Julianna Pena almost named her daughter after UFC legend who submitted her with gruesome armbar

Julianna Pena almost named her daughter after Valentina Shevchenko

Nunes narrowly beat Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215, marking her second victory over ‘Bullet’ and sophomore defense of the bantamweight title.

Unbeknownst to the Brazilian, though, her championship fight also had some surprise stakes for her then-future rival.

Pena was submitted by a brutal Shevchenko armbar before taking an extended break from competition while pregnant with her first child.

As it turns out, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ was a big fan of her former opponent’s first name — that was until the result at UFC 215.

“It’s funny enough, I didn’t watch the fight — I still haven’t — but I said if Valentina wins this fight, I’ll name my baby Valentina,” Pena told Ariel Helwani on a 2017 episode of The MMA Hour.

“And at the end of the night, I checked. I just love that name. I don’t know why, I just love the name Valentina. I think it’s such a beautiful name. And she lost the fight, so I was like, ‘Nope, her name is not going to be Valentina.'”

Pena did note that her connection to the name Valentina began well before her gruesome loss to Shevchenko at UFC on Fox 23.

“Before I even knew Valentina entered the division, like before I’d even thought about Valentina, I remember (MMA manager) Danny Rubenstein one time told me that he had known this girl that makes these beautiful Mexican dresses, and that she could like make a custom dress, and I asked him, ‘Well, what’s her name?’ And he said, ‘Valentina.’ And I was like, wow, that’s such a beautiful name.”

Julianna Pena celebrated all-time UFC title upset with her daughter

Pena ultimately opted to name her daughter Isabella, who was present to witness her mother make history inside T-Mobile Arena on December 11, 2021.

After being widely counted out in the lead-up to her first title shot, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ overcame monumental underdog odds by submitting Nunes in round one of the UFC 269 co-main event.

The newly crowned champion was joined in the cage by her daughter as she and her team celebrated a victory that will always be etched in history as among the greatest upsets.

The 35-year-old is now tasked with repeating the feat against another significant favorite in Harrison, who has earned her first UFC title opportunity on the back of a perfect 2-0 debut year.