Julianna Peña

Julianna Peña (born August 19, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former two-time UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Peña is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. As of June 10, 2025, she is #1 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings, and as of November 25, 2025, she is #8 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Background

The youngest of four siblings, Peña was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. Julianna graduated in 2007 from Mt. Spokane High School. She then attended Spokane Community College. In order to lose weight and channel aggression in her early adulthood, she enrolled in a cardio kickboxing class and subsequently transitioned to mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After going 2–0 as an amateur, Peña made her professional MMA debut in May 2009. She won four consecutive fights but suffered her first defeat in April 2012 to future fellow The Ultimate Fighter 18 cast member Sarah Moras in a 140-pound catchweight bout. The fight took place just two months and one week after Peña was involved in an accident with a drunk driver while walking in downtown Spokane in which she was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose. Ten months later she returned to professional competition in a fight in the flyweight division, a move down from the bantamweight division, losing by unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter

In August 2013, it was announced that Peña was one of the fighters selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate.