UFC women’s bantamweight fighter Julianna Pena has revealed that she’s pregnant, putting her UFC career on hold for the time being.
The 28-year-old former TUF winner is already in her third trimester, and the baby is due to be born in January, with ‘The Venezualen Vixen’ indicating that she might be ready to return to the Octagon by late 2018.
“My goal right now is to have my baby, love my baby, and get back into the Octagon,” Pena told MMAmania.com. “The division definitely needs me. My main goal is to rematch Valentina in my first fight back. I messed up in my last fight, I was overzealous.”
Pena, who is currently ranked No.3 in the division, had been riding a four-fight winning streak up until she faced off against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC On FOX 23 back in January, but lost out via a second round armbar submission.
Pena says that Dana White has offered his full support after learning of her pregnancy and insists that despite starting a family, she still has a lot left to accomplish in the sport.
“I have goals at 135 and I don’t want anyone there to think I’m ducking them,” Peña said.
