Belt or no belt, Pena intends on proving that this weekend, and – surprise, surprise – she’s willing to go into some dark places to bring that belt back home to Chicago. If that means, weathering some early storms and perhaps dropping a round or two to Harrison, so be it.
“Yeah, pretty much,” she laughs. “I don’t even think real dogs have more dog in them than I do. And with that being said, I don’t think in the history of any of my fights I’ve ever won the first round. So, for me it’s like, all right, are you confident that you can listen to your corners to keep you safe for the first round? Okay, cool, then f**k it, you lost the first round. What about the second round? Are you okay with being able to get put on your back and her trying to grind you out for a second round? Sure, no problem. I know my corners and me are well enough equipped to stay safe and stay alive. Now we’re going into round three and it’s a different fight. In round three, everything slows down, everything becomes a lot more labored. And that’s when I’m just turning on my reserves and when I’m just turning on the engine, and that’s when I’m at my best. So I’m just getting warmed up in those later rounds. And that’s exactly how this fight is going to be won. It’s going to be taking her out into deep water. And when she’s sucking Wheaties, that’s when I’ll take over.”
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She means it. She’s proven it before. And here we are again, with this underdog ready to bite back.
“I’ve been in there with absolute monsters,” said Pena. “I’ve experienced what 25 minutes of a hellacious beating is like. And when you’ve been that traumatized before, you know that you could literally get in there with the Hulk himself and you’ll be just fine. And so, for me, I don’t have a give-up button, and I find peace in the fact that everything bad that could possibly happen to me has already happened. So there’s nothing left. All my fears, my doubts, my anxieties, I lay those at the foot of the cross. I say a prayer, I hope for the best, I prepare for the worst and I’m just ready to go get in there and do my job. And when you put in that much mat time, when you put in that much hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, that gives you the confidence to just get in there with anybody. And it doesn’t matter the size, it doesn’t matter the experience, it doesn’t matter anything. It’s a fistfight in a steel cage. And you can’t make it much more difficult than that.”
