What is Julianna Peña’s Net Worth?
Julianna Peña is an American mixed martial artist who has a net worth of $2 million. Julianna Peña competes in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter and in 2022, she was the top-ranked fighter in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings.
Early Life
Julianna Peña was born on August 19, 1989 in Spokane, Washington. She is the youngest of four siblings and is of Mexican and Venezuelan descent. She attended Spokane High school and graduated in 2007. She then attended Spokane Community College. In order to lose weight during her early adulthood and also to learn how to channel her anger and aggression, she enrolled in a cardio kickboxing class around this time. She then transitioned to training in mixed martial arts.
Career
After going 2-0 as an amateur fighter, Peña made her professional MMA debut in May 2009. She won four consecutive fights before suffering her first defeat in April 2012 to Sarah Moras. In April 2013, it was announced that Peña was one of the fighters selected to be on “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate.” Peña faced Gina Mazany in the elimination fight to get in the house and won by unanimous decision.
During the first tournament fight in the UFC house, Peña faced veteran and top-ranked Shayna Baszler. Ronda Rousey had selected this match-up between the first two female picks and Baszler was expected to win. However, after a back and forth first round, Peña came out hard in the second round. The fight went to the ground and Peña was able to win via a rear naked choke for what would become one of the biggest upset victories of the season.
In the semifinals, Peña faced off against Sarah Moras. The two fought previously against each other in 2012, with Moras winning. This time, Peña won the fight via guillotine choke in the second round to avenge the original loss. Peña then faced Jessica Rokoczy in the finals in November 2013. She won the bout via total knock-out in the final seconds of the first round and became the women’s bantamweight champion in the UFC.
(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Peña was next expected to face Jessica Andrade at UFC 171 in March 2014. However, she suffered an injury to her right knee while training, which kept her out of fighting for the rest of 2014. She returned in April 2015 to fight Milana Dudieva. She won the fight via total knockout in the first round and also earned her first “Performance of the Night” bonus award. She then fought Jessica Eye later that year and won the fight by unanimous decision. In July 2016, she fought Cat Zingano and again won by unanimous decision. In January 2017, she fought and lost to Valentina Shevchenko via armbar submission in the second round.
In October 2017, Peña announced she was pregnant and would be taking an indefinite hiatus from fighting. She did not return to the sport until July 2019 when she faced Nico Montano. She won the fight via unanimous decision. She was then expected to fight Aspen Ladd in March 2020 but Peña pulled out of the fight early, citing an injury. In October 2020, she fought Germaine de Randamie. She lost the fight via guillotine choke in round three. She then fought Sara McMann in January 2021 and won the fight via submission in three rounds.
Peña was expected to face Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship on August 7, 2021. However, Nunes tested positive for COVID-19 only a week before. The fight was rescheduled to December. When the fight did occur, Peña defeated Nunes via a rear-naked choke submission. The fight is considered a major upset in UFC history.
In February 2022, it was announced that Peña and Nunes would be the coaches of “The Ultimate Fighter 30.” She also continued fighting, facing Nunes in July 2022 for the Women’s Bantamweight title. Peña lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Personal Life
Peña was arrested on December 20, 2015 in Spokane and charged with two counts of assault following an altercation with bar staff after participating in a street fight. During the fight, her training partner on the Sikjitsu fight team, Josh Gow, had been injured. A judge later granted a stipulation order of continuance in her case by which she could have the case dismissed if she had no other incidents over the course of the next year. Peña stayed out of trouble and the case was dismissed.
Peña is married to Luis Alejandre. The date of their wedding is not known. He is a professional martial arts trainer and is the founder and owner of Stronghold Jiu-Jitsu Academy. The couple welcomed their daughter, Isabella, in 2018.
