Julianna Pena Reveals Suggestion of 'BFM' Belt Dismissed as 'Corny' by UFC

Julianna Pena ’s suggestion of a women’s version of the BMF belt failed to pique the interest of Ultimate Fighting Championship officials.

Pena is rumored to challenge Raquel Pennington for the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. While Pena would have preferred to fight at UFC 306 at the Sphere like many other fighters, she was told her opponent wouldn’t be ready in September. Pena is now focused on being a two-time mom-champ, which she believes is the next best thing for her.

“I loved the idea of fighting in Las Vegas again, of course at the Sphere, would have been historic,” Pena told MMAjunkie.com . “But since that option is no longer available, my next best thing would be winning the title and becoming a second-time champion. And being someone who gave birth and was able to win the belt. I think that says a lot as far as being a badass mom.”

Pena previously laid claim to the status of first-ever mom-champion after her historic upset win over Amanda Nunes at UFC 269 in December 2021. While Cristiane Justino and Amanda Nunes were mothers and champions before Pena, “Cyborg” had adopted her teenage niece and Nunes’ partner, Nina Nunes , gave birth to their child.

Pena also proposed a women’s parallel of the BMF belt, the BFM [Baddest F—ing Mother] title, while calling for her title shot against Pennington. Only mothers, whether they birthed the child or not, would be eligible to compete for the BFM title suggested by Pena. However, Pena revealed that it is unlikely to come to fruition as the idea was turned down by the UFC as “corny.” “The Venezuelan Vixen” has at this point given up hopes of any non-official titles for the women’s divisions.

“I told them when they were doing the BMF belt that I wanted a BFM belt,” she said. “So instead of it being ‘Baddest Motherf’er,’ I wanted it to be, ‘Baddest F’ing Mother.’ So, like you can only fight for the belt if you’re a mom. Whether you had the baby or didn’t have the baby. I think moms fighting for the belt, especially because we give birth and give life, which is the hardest thing a woman can do, I think that that would have been cool to have that ‘Baddest F’ing Mother’ belt. They don’t like my idea, they think it’s corny.

“But I don’t think that they are going to make that [BMF] eligible for women. I have been calling for it and since I’ve been calling for it then I tried, [they told me] ‘No, no, no, no girls.’ And so I was like, ‘All right let’s change it, let’s have our own belt for just like moms.’ And they said, ‘No, no, no, no that’s corny.’ I mean I am just at this point giving up on the idea of being eligible to fight for the Baddest F’ing Mother belt or the Baddest Motherf’er belt.’”

Pena hasn’t fought since dropping a lopsided decision in her rematch against Nunes at UFC 277 in July 2022. While they were slated for a trilogy clash at UFC 289 last year, Pena pulled out due to an injury and was replaced by Irene Aldana on short notice. “The Lioness” went on to retire after a one-sided unanimous decision win over Aldana. Pena still hopes to lure Nunes out of retirement by winning the title.