Julianna Pena reveals who she'd rather win between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes

Former two-time women's bantamweight champion Julianna Pena has history with current titleholder Kayla Harrison and former two-time champion Amanda Nunes. 

Harrison and Nunes, former teammates, are expected to meet at some point in 2026. Nunes is widely considered the female fighting G.O.A.T. She retired in June 2023, but after two years of retirement "The Lioness" announced that she was ending her hiatus to face the UFC 316 winner between Harrison and Pena. Harrison submitted Pena late in the second round to capture the women's 135-pound title. 

Pena is recovering from back surgery. She's underwent multiple surgical repairs recently and believes she's more than half way back to full capabilities. She holds a win over Nunes and believes a trilogy against the Brazilian would be the ideal situation.  

"I think a trilogy with Amanda would be the best case scenario just because we have shared so much time inside the octagon, but then I'd also love to fight Kayla again because I know that I can beat her," Pena said during an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show. "I think if I could get into a fight champ healthy with having all of these injuries healed I can beat her. I know I can."

Pena wasn't optimistic about getting the next title shot, but pointed out that stranger things have happened. 

"I haven't seen anyone else say that they want to fight Amanda or Kayla except me. I'm willing to fight either one of them," Pena said. "If I could jump right into an immediate rematch with either one of them, I think that would be the best case scenario. I don't see any roadblocks to it, but maybe the promotion has other ideas. I'm not sure."

Looking  at the matchup between Harrison and Nunes, Pena isn' sure who'll win. 

"My head says Amanda, and my heart says Kayla. I don't know. May the best woman win. I don't have anything personally against either one of them, " Pena said.