Pena not sold on Shevchenko's win over Holm, the 'Buster Douglas of MMA'

Heading into her first UFC main event, Julianna Pena doesn't think there's anyone at her level.

That includes Valentina Shevchenko, the woman she'll fight Saturday in Denver, and former women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Shevchenko won a five-round unanimous decision over Holm last July to set up a potential No. 1 contender's match with Pena, but "The Venezuelan Vixen" downplayed that achievement by comparing Holm to Buster Douglas.

Douglas rose to fame in February 1990 when he became the first man to defeat Mike Tyson in a professional bout, only to rapidly fade into obscurity. In Pena's eyes, that's similar to how Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey before going 0-2 in 2016.

"She beat the Buster Douglas of MMA," Pena told Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. "So what? Buster Douglas had his one moment against Mike Tyson and then he lost every other big fight he was in.

"Holly, she had her moment against Ronda, she beat Ronda, and now they're giving her another title fight even though she lost two fights in a row. Who else did she beat besides Ronda? No one. She's this sport's Buster Douglas."

Beyond her criticisms of Holm's accomplishments, Pena was also unimpressed with how Shevchenko beat her. The pairing of Holm and Shevchenko put two of MMA's most accomplished kickboxers in the cage together and the result was a methodical striking battle.

In Pena's opinion, the action left a lot to be desired.

"It was little pitter-patter point fighting," Pena said. "It wasn't exciting. Holly just wants to outpoint people like she did as boxer and Valentina was just better at it that night. She does that too, she goes for points, and she was better at it than Holly."

Six of Pena's eight wins have come by way of knockout or submission and she can back up her lofty words by adding to that tally Saturday.