Julianna Peña 'plagued' by injuries for Kayla Harrison fight, went in with a 'severe handicap'
Julianna Peña has fallen from the UFC women's bantamweight throne for a second time.
UFC 316 was a rough night at the office for Peña, who suffered a second-round kimura loss to Kayla Harrison. The bout was Peña's second scheduled title defense of her UFC career, kicking off her second title reign after she previously held the belt from December 2021 to July 2022.
Advertisement
Speaking publicly for the first time since her loss, Peña revealed on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" that she was far from her best self heading into the highly anticipated clash.
"I've been doing this since 2008. I think I have dislocated, broken and torn every ligament in my body," Peña said. "I was plagued with several injuries leading up to that fight, and it was not a good camp for me in that sense because I knew I was going into the fight with a pretty severe handicap.
"It crossed my mind [not to fight] but it wasn't bad enough to the point where I would have to not fight because I knew I was going to be able to push through, but I think it's a funny thing that my coaches probably didn't explain the severity of the situation to me. Otherwise, I probably would have thought more heavily on not competing."
According to Peña, her injuries occurred late in her fight camp, starting in the second week of May when she broke her thumb "on a training partner." The thumb was so swollen that it made gripping difficult, she said, which she is still struggling with after the fight. After that, Peña claimed that toward the end of the month, she took a hard fall in the cage that resulted in a tear in her elbow and broke off several bone chips. The injury prevented her from fully extending her arm, she said, but she did her best to work on the hindrances before she left for fight week.
Advertisement
Peña, 35, said she's undergoing surgery on her elbow in July, along with another surgery she didn't reveal.
But regardless of all the damage sustained, there aren't any regrets in toughing it out to face Harrison.
"I don't regret competing," Peña said. "I put in too much time. I've taken away too much time from other people. From my daughter, from my coaches, from their families. So I don't regret competing, no. I just wish that I could have competed under better circumstances.
"It doesn't matter because you're going to get locked inside that Octagon anyway. Knowing that I was going into the fight with that big of a handicap definitely sucked, but then lo and behold, that's actually the same arm that she isolated and was able to kimura, so I had no strength to be able to fight that — then hot-dog it, [the fight-ending submission happened] with five seconds left in the round. It's humiliating, it's embarrassing and it sucks. Oh well. Live to fight another day."
Advertisement
With the injuries piling up and the accomplishments already attached to her name, it begs the question of how much longer Peña wants to fight. After the loss, she indicated she hopes to jump immediately back into a title fight and challenge the winner of an expected Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes superfight.
Peña expects her recovery timetable from the upcoming surgeries to be relatively short — around six months. After that, she'll see where she's at mentally.
"I don't want to do anything else," Pena said. "Fighting has been so much a part of my life that it's been a week and a half and I'm sitting here like, 'What am I supposed to do now with the rest of my time?' Obviously I'm going to Disney World, I'm going on a vacation. So that's definitely one thing, but after that, I have a lot of things to consider, and they will all come after my surgery and my healing stage.
Advertisement
"I've proven that you can tear four out of five ligaments in your knee and still win and compete at the highest level. I've proven that I can tear my other knee and still come back and compete at the highest level. I've proven that I can dislocate my elbows and still come back at the highest level. So I've broken it all, I've torn it all. There's really not anything I think I couldn't come back from. This is just a part of the game. This is from years of wear and tear on my body, and I'll be able to come back and feel better — which is an exciting thing, because if I'm fighting with two arms, you girls better watch out."
As soon as Peña vs. Harrison concluded, the table was set for Nunes' return.
If Peña does get her wish once the dust is settled again at 135 pounds, she'd ideally prefer a trilogy fight against Nunes. Regarding who she thinks wins the matchup, she thinks her former rival still has enough in the tank to get it done.
"Amanda and I were 1-1, and I still feel like there's some unfinished business there," Peña said. "Kayla, I would love to compete against [her] again with a camp where I'm not going in there like a bag of bones, trying to put them together with duct tape. So that would be best-case scenario, but I'll definitely be there cageside, watching them do their thing when they get ready to go, for sure. I'm curious.
"I think that [Nunes] probably more than likely will [win], but I really don't care. I'm just there to eat my popcorn and watch the show."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Xabi Alonso's awkward start at Real Madrid: New hope, little time, big pressure
'Everything has had to be speeded up,' new Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said shortly after their arrival in the U.S. for this summer's Club World Cup. 'We've had little time to get to know each other and to train,' he added, speaking to Madrid's official TV channel on Sunday. 'We'll start to make a team, because we have three training sessions before the first game. We're coming here very motivated to have a good tournament, and to go as far as the final. Everybody is very positive, we're getting to know each other bit by bit.' Advertisement Alonso, 43, was only presented as Carlo Ancelotti's successor on May 27, and it wasn't until the start of last week that he took charge of his first Madrid training session. Today, he and his players' 'speeded up' preparation will be tested by high-spending Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in both teams' opening Club World Cup group game in Miami, Florida. Madrid's idea is that Alonso's arrival from German side Bayer Leverkusen will begin a new cycle of success at the Bernabeu, with the Spanish giants having won only the lightly-regarded UEFA Super Cup so far this season after doing a La Liga/Champions League double 12 months ago. But this is a club where the immediate demands are always high — and the head coach tends to be the one who takes responsibility for any failures. The former Madrid and Spain midfielder's messaging has mirrored his characteristic conviction and charisma, but there's no getting away from the fact he is facing a tricky start — and not just because of the timing. Alonso took his first training session as Madrid coach on June 9, when he had just five senior players available (Lucas Vazquez, Fran Garcia, Dani Ceballos, Rodrygo and Raul Asencio). Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga and Endrick were also present to hear Alonso's first instructions to the group, but all are returning from injuries so could not take part in the physical aspects that day. It was only on Friday that those players who had played for their countries in Europe in this month's international window — including Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni — met the new boss face to face. That was also when new signings Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen first trained as Madrid players. Finally, on Sunday, those internationals — Vinicius Junior, Arda Guler and Andriy Lunin — whose matches were across North and South America joined up with the group at their base in Florida. 🔥 @TrentAA 🔥 — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 17, 2025 That means Alonso has had only three proper training sessions to prepare, with an injury-depleted squad, before what looks like being the key game of a Group H schedule which also sees them play Pachuca of Mexico and Austria's Red Bull Salzburg. Al Hilal, title winners and then runners-up in the past two Saudi Pro League seasons and semi-finalists in the 2024-25 Asian Champions League, have a side full of expensive stars including Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Joao Cancelo and captain Salem Al-Dawsari, who has scored for Saudi Arabia at two World Cups. They themselves have a brand-new manager in Simone Inzaghi, fresh off steering Inter to a second Champions League final in three seasons. Advertisement It looks very likely that Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen will make their Madrid debuts at Hard Rock Stadium tonight, in a back four alongside youngster Asensio and backup left-back Fran — the only other two fully-fit defenders in the squad right now. Of those on the way back to health, Rudiger is most likely to return during the group phase, with David Alaba also potentially becoming available to Alonso depending on how far in the tournament Madrid go. No risks are being taken with Carvajal and Militao as they deal with serious knee injuries that have kept them out since October and November respectively. Alonso will have many more options in midfield and attack — and it will be fascinating to see how existing stars Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo fit into his plans. How/if he decides to use Luka Modric, 39, and 33-year-old Vazquez — team-mates of his at Madrid who are leaving the club once the tournament ends — will also be interesting. Madrid did also complete a deal for 17-year-old midfielder Franco Mastantuono last week after meeting his €45million (£38.4m/$52.1m) release clause at Argentina's River Plate, but he is not joining them until August 14 — the day he turns 18. Negotiations with Benfica over left-back Alvaro Carreras have not yet been completed. So Mastantuono and Carreras can play at the Club World Cup, just for their current clubs — indeed, the latter started Benfica's opening match against Boca Juniors on Monday. Depending on how the three teams progress, they could line up against Madrid in the knockout stages. All clubs involved are dealing with novel complexities in this revamped tournament, with its new place in the calendar. But the situation is particularly awkward for Alonso, given all the other challenges involved as he settles into such a pressurised and high-profile job. In their second spell under Ancelotti, Madrid became a counter-attacking team, often sitting deep and looking to use the pace of their forwards on the break. So far in his coaching career, with Real Sociedad B and Leverkusen, Alonso has favoured a more modern style, seeking to control games through high pressing and orchestrated possession moves. 'I've an idea of how I want us to play, but not necessarily the system we'll use,' he told reporters at his Madrid presentation. Alonso's primary message that day seemed to be that his team would play with a new energy and purpose, looking to lift Madrid supporters after a disappointing domestic and European season. 'I want the team to ignite the fans, to make them excited and proud of the team they see on the pitch,' he said. Advertisement Rivals Barcelona beat Madrid to the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Spanish Supercopa titles over 2024-25. Hansi Flick's side also won all four of their meetings across those competitions by an aggregate score of 16-7. They also went further than them in the Champions League, reaching the last four while Madrid lost 5-1 on aggregate against Arsenal in the quarter-finals. Alonso's return to the club is seen at the Bernabeu as part of moving on quickly from those disappointments. When Ancelotti's drawn-out exit to become manager of the Brazil national team was finally confirmed, appointing director of football Santi Solari as interim coach for the Club World Cup was considered. Alonso was aware of the difficulty of going into a tournament at such short notice, but the club hierarchy insisted that he accept the challenge. Madrid moving so rapidly in the transfer market this summer — including paying Liverpool €10m so Alexander-Arnold could join in time to play in this tournament, rather than wait for his contract to expire midway through the round of 16 — underlines its importance to them. Even before it was expanded to this new four-yearly format, the Bernabeu hierarchy were always proud of being declared world champions, as Madrid have been six times since 2014 in the competition's smaller annual version (of which they are the current holders). FIFA hugely increasing the prize money — the winners now receive $125m (£92m) — makes it even more attractive. 'You'll quickly understand what Real Madrid stands for,' Perez said to Alexander-Arnold at the Englishman's official presentation last week. 'Every trophy is a push forward to win the next one. And the next one is the Club World Cup.' To help with this challenge, Alonso will have a larger backroom team than Ancelotti was allowed. Long-serving goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis is staying, and Alonso's long-time No 2 Sebas Parrilla also knows Madrid well. But most of the new staff will need to adapt quickly to the unique challenges and pressures of working at Valdebebas, the club's training complex. Fitness coach Ismael Camenforte-Lopez and analyst Alberto Encinas both have backgrounds at Barcelona's La Masia youth academy, so will bring different ideas to Madrid. Former Mexican FA director of performance Javier Arnaiz and data analyst Ismael Fernandez are also joining to try to help improve the injury record. The situation of veteran fitness coach Antonio Pintus, whose methods were questioned as all the injuries struck this season, remains unresolved. Madrid's hierarchy wants the 62-year-old to stay, as Perez likes his old-style way of working. How that fits with Alonso's fresh, modern approach remains to be seen. Advertisement Further challenges for Alonso's accelerated preparations have been the intense heat at their base in Palm Beach, a short distance north of Miami, this week, as well as the basic nature of their FIFA-organised training centre in The Gardens North County District Park. According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Madrid employees had to scramble to install temporary dressing rooms, air-conditioned tents, ice baths for recovery and mobile showers in time for the squad's arrival. There have been doubts about whether galacticos Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius Jr will be motivated about a potential extra month of games at the end of what has been a long, draining season. Group opponents Al Hilal, Pachuca and Salzburg will all hope to take advantage of any reluctance and shock Madrid on such a big stage. The morale boost of Alonso's arrival makes that seem much less likely to happen, though. A source close to one Madrid player, who like all consulted for this article requested anonymity to be able to speak openly, told The Athletic this week that 'there's a lot of optimism and motivation, the positive message from the new 'mister' (manager) has gone down well'. Everyone at Madrid will be hoping that is the case, and that the 'fresh start' brought by Alonso, plus the arrivals of Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen, can revitalise the team after a downbeat few months.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rafael Devers debuts with Giants at DH, happy to do so: 'I am here to play wherever they want me to play'
Rafael Devers is officially a San Francisco Giant. And he doesn't care where on the field he plays. The Giants introduced their new star slugger on Tuesday, two days after acquiring Devers in a trade from the Boston Red Sox. The deal took place after a public falling out in Boston in which the Red Sox removed Devers from his longtime position at third base and put him at designated hitter. Advertisement Devers isn't projected to play at third in San Francisco, either. That job belongs to five-time Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman. But Devers isn't worried about it. He was the designated hitter for his Giants debut against the Cleveland Guardians, a game the team lost 3-2 at Oracle Park, on Tuesday. Here's what he had to say on the subject at his introductory news conference. "I'm here to give my 100%," Devers said through his interpreter. "I don't put any buts. They're the men in charge. "I am here to play wherever they want me to play." Devers went 2-for-5 in the loss with a single RBI. He struck out swinging in his first at-bat of the night, but he received a very warm welcome from Giants fans before doing so. Third-base fallout in Boston Had Devers provided the same answer to the same question in Boston, he might still be a member of the Red Sox. Instead, he's taking a new approach with his new team that acquired him to compete in a loaded NL West. Advertisement Before joining the Giants, Devers played his entire eight-plus season MLB career with the Red Sox. He's a four-time All-Star who very well could earn his fifth selection this season. He was the last remaining player on the roster from Boston's 2018 World Series championship team. But the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox grew strained this winter after Boston acquired third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency. That signing presented the Red Sox with an obvious baseball decision. Bregman is a Gold Glove third baseman. Devers, by multiple advanced metrics, is one of the worst third basemen in the sport. The obvious move was to place Bregman at third and move Devers — an All-Star slugger — to designated hitter. But Devers made clear in no uncertain terms during spring training that he had zero desire to cede third base to Bregman. 'Third base is my position,' Devers said in February, per 'It's what I've played. I don't know what their plans are. I know we had a conversation. I made it clear, kind of what my desires were, and whatever happens from here, I don't know.' Advertisement Devers then responded "no" when asked if he was open to playing designated hitter. Rafael Devers is slated to start his Giants career as San Francisco's designated hitter. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Ultimately, Red Sox manager Alex Cora made the proper baseball decision, and Bregman took over at third. Devers, the veteran leader of the clubhouse, was moved to designated hitter against his wishes. Devers might not have been happy with the move. But he continued to perform, with a .272/.401/.504 slash line with 15 home runs and 58 RBI through 73 games. Then came Sunday's stunning news. A Red Sox team in the midst of a five-game winning streak and in the thick of the AL playoff race dealt Devers to the Giants. Why did the Red Sox trade Devers? Despite his dissatisfaction, Devers reportedly did not demand a trade. It added up to a stunning decision by the Red Sox that prompted questions Monday for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and CEO Sam Kennedy. 'We worked at it, we had a different vision for him going forward than he had," Kennedy told reporters during the news conference. "We couldn't get there, what we felt we needed from him that would be in the best interest of the ball club. Advertisement Breslow floated the idea that trading Devers for pitchers Jordan Hicks (4.23 career ERA) and Kyle Harrison (4.48 career ERA) and some minor leaguers would make the Red Sox better this season. 'I do think there's a real chance that at the end of the season, we're looking back, and we've won more games than we otherwise would have," he said. As for whether Devers requested a trade, Breslow said this: 'There were times during the course of conversations with Raffy's camp where they had indicated that perhaps a fresh start would be best for both sides,' Breslow said. 'And we were committed to trying to work through this." Whatever the reason, the Red Sox are moving into a new era focused on rookie slugger Roman Anthony and other top prospects. With Devers in San Francisco, the Red Sox are off the hook for the remaining eight-plus years of his 10-year, $313.5 million contract.
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Caitlin Clark in scuffle as Fever advance to Commissioner's Cup final: Takeaways
INDIANAPOLIS — The Eastern Conference will be represented by the Indiana Fever in the 2025 Commissioner's Cup final. The reward did not come easily for the Fever, who had to fight for it, quite literally. The Fever won 88-71 on Tuesday against Connecticut in a game marred by multiple scuffles, but still needed an Atlanta loss to overtake the Dream. The New York Liberty provided the assist, overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat Atlanta 86-81. Indiana and New York were tied at 4-1 in Commissioner's Cup games, but the Fever's latest victory over the Liberty gave them the tiebreaker. Advertisement This is the first time Indiana has advanced to the final in the five-year history of the Commissioner's Cup. The East was previously represented by Connecticut, Chicago and New York, twice. Only the Liberty have won the cup for the Eastern Conference, which came in 2023. Of the current Fever players, DeWanna Bonner — who has missed the last two games for personal reasons — is the only one to have appeared in a cup final, back in 2021 with the Sun. Indiana will have to travel to Minnesota, the Western Conference representative, for the final on Tuesday, July 1. The tension was high between both teams until their emotions boiled over in the second half, resulting in Fever star Caitlin Clark being flagrant fouled in the third quarter and three players being ejected in the fourth. At the 4:48 mark of the third quarter, Clark was poked in the eye by Sun guard Jacy Sheldon and body-checked from her blindside by Sheldon's teammate Marina Mabrey. As Clark dribbled down the lane, Sheldon reached in with her right hand and hit Clark in the face. Clark immediately grabbed at her right eye as Sheldon bumped her once more. Clark responded by shoving Sheldon, which prompted Sheldon's teammates, Tina Charles and Mabrey, to enter the fray. Charles went up to Clark and wagged her finger in Clark's face, and then Mabrey came over behind Clark and pushed her to the floor. The Fever and Sun got into a scuffle after Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon. Afterwards, Marina Mabrey shoved Clark. Clark, Mabrey and Tina Charles were called for technicals. Sheldon received a flagrant. 🎥 @NBATV | H/T @nosyone4 — The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) June 18, 2025 Clark and Sheldon had been chirping at each other from the start of the game as Sheldon hounded Clark on defense. The two came face-to-face to argue late in the first quarter and had to be separated by their teammates and the officials. 'When the officials don't get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen and it's been happening all season long … this is what happens,' Fever coach Stephanie White said, later adding that she believes the officiating is an issue for the entire WNBA and not just for her team. 'You've got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, and when you allow them to play physical and you allow all these things to happen, they're gonna compete and they're gonna have their teammates' backs. … 'I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was gonna happen.' Advertisement Upon review, the referees upgraded Sheldon's foul on Clark to a flagrant foul penalty 1. They also issued technical fouls to Clark, Charles and Mabrey, who was not ejected despite shoving Clark down. 'The contact made by Mabrey did not rise to the level of an ejection,' crew chief Ashley Gloss said via the official pool report. 'Additionally, (it) did not meet the criteria for a flagrant foul penalty two.' After the dust-up, Mabrey was relentlessly booed by the home crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse every time she touched the ball. But the extracurriculars weren't over. Sheldon came up with a steal with less than a minute remaining in the game and raced the other way for what would've been a fast break layup, but Fever wing Sophie Cunningham chased Sheldon down and threw her to the ground with 46.0 seconds left. When Sheldon popped off the floor, she and her teammate Lindsay Allen went after Cunningham as the three of them came face-to-face. Their kerfuffle spilled into the first row of courtside seating before they were separated by teammates and officials. 'I think when things aren't managed well to begin with, that it tends to get out of hand, and that's what happened. That's what was shown (Tuesday),' Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa said. 'So, I think just, it goes with managing both teams on the court, managing calls and fouls, and making sure that things aren't just adding fuel to the fire throughout the game to where we have situations like this happen.' After a lengthy review, Cunningham was issued a flagrant foul penalty 2, and Sheldon and Allen received technical fouls. All three players were ejected. 'When you are winning the game by 17 points and you are doing this stupid foul, this is just disrespectful,' Sun coach Rachid Meziane said of Cunningham's flagrant foul. 'I don't know how Jacy and Lacy (got) ejected from the game when they did nothing.' Clark declined to talk about the flagrant foul she received from Sheldon or the officiating in Indiana's postgame news conference. However, the Fever star nodded her head in agreement with White's scathing assessment of the referees, which included White claiming that everyone in the WNBA is getting better 'except the officials.' Advertisement Clark has been the recipient of four flagrant fouls through her first 48 WNBA games, including the playoffs, though Tuesday's was the first this season. Clark still finished with 20 points and six assists in 29 minutes to lift the Fever into the Commissioner's Cup final. She drilled four 3-pointers, punctuated by a 3 right in front of the Sun bench with just over four minutes left in the game. After the ball went through the hoop, the Fever star guard stared down her opponents on the sideline and screamed in their direction. 'I'm a passionate player, but at the end of the day, like, I'm here to play basketball,' Clark said. '… My game's gonna talk, and that's all that really matters.' At the start of the season, Clark said Indiana's goal for 2025 was a championship. She likely didn't mean a Commissioner's Cup trophy, but the in-season tournament has historically augured postseason success for its participants. The Las Vegas Aces got their first taste of a title in 2022 with the cup, following that up with a title later that season. In 2023 and 2024, the event was a preview of the WNBA Finals, though with the opposite winners. Every team that has made the Commissioner's Cup final — other than Seattle in 2021, which lost Breanna Stewart to an Achilles injury later in the year — has at least made the WNBA semifinals. The Fever only had two postseason games in 2024 and were the least experienced playoff team in recent memory heading into their first-round series against Connecticut. More opportunities for high-stakes games can only benefit Indiana in its postseason aspirations. The Fever's upset of the then-undefeated New York Liberty was their first such pivotal contest. The final against the Lynx will be another playoff-caliber environment, especially since it will come on the road. Indiana has not faced Minnesota yet this season. The Fever went 1-2 against a largely similar Lynx roster in 2024, the win coming in a game that MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier missed.
