JRE MMA Show #118 with Julianna Peña
Joe Rogan (host), Julianna Peña (guest)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Julianna Peña, JRE MMA Show #118 with Julianna Peña explores julianna Peña on shocking Nunes upset, mindset, motherhood, and money Julianna Peña joins Joe Rogan to dissect her monumental upset over Amanda Nunes, explaining the strategy, mindset, and years of frustration that led to her bantamweight title win. They walk through key moments of the fight, her long road through injuries and a major knee reconstruction, and how motherhood and early life adversity hardened her mentality. Peña also talks candidly about fighter pay, career longevity, potential rematches with Nunes and others, and ideas for her future in commentary and media. Along the way they veer into broader topics like COVID policies, training injuries, supplements, psychedelics, geography, and the evolution of women’s MMA.
Julianna Peña on shocking Nunes upset, mindset, motherhood, and money
Julianna Peña joins Joe Rogan to dissect her monumental upset over Amanda Nunes, explaining the strategy, mindset, and years of frustration that led to her bantamweight title win. They walk through key moments of the fight, her long road through injuries and a major knee reconstruction, and how motherhood and early life adversity hardened her mentality. Peña also talks candidly about fighter pay, career longevity, potential rematches with Nunes and others, and ideas for her future in commentary and media. Along the way they veer into broader topics like COVID policies, training injuries, supplements, psychedelics, geography, and the evolution of women’s MMA.
Key Takeaways
Relentless self-belief and a clear style matchup game plan enabled Peña’s upset.
She always saw her pressure, durability, and willingness to “meet fire with fire” as the perfect style to beat Nunes, and spent years mentally rehearsing that she would drown Amanda rather than try to outpoint her.
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You can’t rely on a title shot; you must advocate for yourself over years.
Peña details calling for a Nunes fight for about five years, being passed over for Rousey and others, and learning to balance loyalty to the UFC with having management who will push hard for better opportunities and higher pay.
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Serious injuries don’t have to end a career if you attack rehab like a fight camp.
After tearing four of five knee ligaments and being told by some doctors she’d never fight again, she focused obsessively on rehab, strength work, and long‑term knee care (collagen, conditioning) to return stronger.
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Emotional state in training can be as dangerous as physical risk.
Her catastrophic knee injury came in an unsupervised, anger-fueled sparring session; she now sees going to the gym with unresolved rage and no structure as a mistake that fighters should actively avoid.
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Staying active and disciplined between camps is crucial for performance and mental health.
Earlier in her career she’d disappear after losses or wins, gain weight, and restart from scratch; now she maintains a training base year‑round so camps refine her game instead of rebuilding it.
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Motherhood radically reframed her ‘why’ and raised the stakes on every decision.
Travel, risk, and money negotiations are now evaluated through the lens of providing for and modeling courage to her daughter, which deepens her resolve but also makes her more selective about opportunities.
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Fighters should think early about post‑career identity and income streams.
Peña is already commentating for Combate, exploring sponsorships, and considering a podcast or broadcast role, recognizing that her championship status and personality can transition into a sustainable media career.
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Notable Quotes
“One of us is coming out of here and that’s it. I’m the type of person to meet that fire head‑on and match it with my own fire.”
— Julianna Peña
“Because of your effort, because of what you accomplished that night, you changed the way people think about what’s possible and not possible.”
— Joe Rogan
“I’ve been saving my silver bullets this entire time, and now that I got it, I want to get paid. If it don’t make money, it don’t make sense.”
— Julianna Peña
“Comfort’s a terrible place to be. It’s only good after you’ve already worked really hard and you deserve a little break.”
— Joe Rogan
“How sad would it be for somebody to die with no passion?”
— Julianna Peña
Questions Answered in This Episode
What specific tactical adjustments does Julianna plan to make for an Amanda Nunes rematch now that both know each other’s strengths and vulnerabilities?
Julianna Peña joins Joe Rogan to dissect her monumental upset over Amanda Nunes, explaining the strategy, mindset, and years of frustration that led to her bantamweight title win. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How should athletic commissions realistically reform judging—live scoring, fighter‑judges, or something else—to reduce controversial decisions without ruining the drama?
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Where is the line between necessary self‑belief and dangerous underestimation when preparing for a dominant champion, and how can fighters calibrate that?
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How can promotions better support fighters through major injuries, childbirth, and long layoffs without sacrificing meritocracy or fans’ expectations?
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If Julianna launches a podcast or commentary career, what unique angles or insider perspectives on women’s MMA and fighter life would you most want her to focus on?
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Transcript Preview
(drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) It's dope, right?
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
It's ... I don't think that's technically an NFT. It's like a digital representation of the NFT. He gave me an NFT too, but you have to put that in, like, an NFT wallet, which ...
I don't know.
Yep.
Just roll with that, yeah.
Well, what does that mean? (door closes) Like, what is an NFT wallet? What is that-
That's how you store it.
Exactly, but what does that mean? (clears throat)
I was right there with you when you were talking about, like, you have no idea what this stuff is, and it's really complicated and everything.
It's w- it's weird that they're so valuable. That's what's weird.
Well, and ... But I'm actually gonna, like, try to start one.
You should.
(laughs) Yeah.
It seems like a scam-
Yeah.
... that, like, people are willingly participating in, so, like, okay. But this guy, Beeple, like, he's an amazing artist. He does art every day. He puts a new piece of digital art out every day, and he's done it for 12 years.
I saw it, yeah.
And he's got a gallery that they're building of all these, these kind of things, like this Elon thing, of these j- giant digital artwork pieces-
Yeah.
... where y- it's ... So that's, like, he's a different thing. Some people are just making NFTs of, like, a- an image of them, like, at the park or something like that, like-
I, I'm trying to figure out, like, what I can give to, like, the super fans, right?
Mm-hmm.
So, like, I'm like, "Do they want, like, an old, like, fight bra or something?"
(laughs)
Like, do they, do they want, like, tickets to the fight? Like, what do these guys want? Like, what do you mean, you know?
They definitely want a fight bra.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think I was gonna, like-
(laughs)
... stick some of that stuff, like some, some weird stuff in there, you know, and, like, be like, "These are my old hand wraps."
Yeah.
Do you guys want that? Like, is this an NFT? Is a hand wrap an NFT?
That's valuable. Jeremy Stephens gave me his wraps and his shorts from one of his fights, one of his victories, and it's up in my, uh, studio in LA.
Oh, nice.
I gotta bring that over here.
Yeah.
So in the beginning, like, when I first met you, uh, today rather, when I ran into you-
Yeah.
Uh, f- first thing I was thinking was, like, "Are you still on cloud nine?" Like, what is this like?
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