UFC on FOX 23: Julianna Pena calls Holly Holm the 'Buster Douglas of MMA'

Valentina Shevchenko picked up the biggest win of her career in her last outing, outscoring former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, at UFC on FOX 20 last July (see it again here).

Her upcoming opponent, Julianna Pena, is not impressed.

That’s because a win over the "Buster Douglas of MMA" is nothing to brag about, according to "The Venezuelan Vixen."

"She beat the Buster Douglas of MMA," Pena told 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," she said.

Douglas infamously ended "Iron Mike’s" reign at the top of the boxing world in 1990, knocking him out in their title fight in Tokyo, Japan. And though Buster went on to win eight of his last 10 fights before calling it a career, he coughed up his title in his first defense to Evander Holyfield and failed to win the vacant IBA heavyweight title, losing to Lou Saverse via first-round knockout.

As for Holm — who is a former pro boxing champion herself after knocking out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in November of 2015 -- she lost her strap in her first title defense against Meisha Tate at UFC 196, which was then followed by the loss to Shevchenko.

Fair comparison?

Nevertheless, "The Preacher’s Daughter" will get the chance to win gold once again when she faces Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 on Feb. 11, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York, for the inaugural women’s featherweight belt (details).

As for Pena, she looks to earn her first-ever UFC title fight with a win over Valentina. And unlike her fight with Holm, Julianna guarantees some action.

"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," proclaimed a fired-up Pena.

"That’s not what’s going to happen on Saturday night, I’m not going to just stand there and point fight, I’m going to go in there and be exciting and go for the finish."

To learn more about the upcoming UFC on FOX 23 fight card click here.