Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña and Lauren “All-In” Taylor are in talks to face off in a battle of unbeaten prospects at Fitetime Entertainment: “Arctic Combat 12” on February 18th in Fairbanks, Alaska. Promoter David Knight confirmed plans for the matchup with MMARising.com today.
Peña returned to the cage after a two-year injury hiatus in December and stopped Canadian Rachael Swatez in impressive fashion. Taylor, who holds a pair of women’s titles in her home state of Alaska, has defeated all four of her pro opponents to date via a form of knockout; one in just 17 seconds.
Peña (3-0-0) showed no ill effects from her lengthy layoff and surgeries to repair a torn ACL when she stepped back into action this past month. Competing in front of hometown supporters, Peña secured a guillotine choke that forced Swatez to submit early in the second round of their 125-pound matchup. The Spokane, Washington native was in negotiations to compete at the upcoming ProElite 3 event in Hawaii, but a bout could not be finalised in time and she was subsequently removed from the card. Peña now moves back up in weight for the fight with Taylor in February.
Taylor (4-0-0) currently holds 145-pound titles in both Alaska Cage Fighting and the long-running Alaska Fighting Championship. To date, none of her bouts has lasted longer than two rounds. In October, Taylor brought her undefeated record into her Alaska Cage Fighting debut against Julia Griffin and stopped her opponent with strikes late in round two. Now armed with two championships, Taylor will compete under the Arctic Combat banner for the first time as a professional when she welcomes Peña to Alaska.
Fitetime Entertainment: “Arctic Combat 12” takes place on February 18th at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. The bout between Peña and Taylor will likely be held at 135 pounds.
Tim Peterson contributed to this report.
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