Julianna Peña Gets Her First Top-10 Opponent at UFC 192

This Saturday night, 12th-ranked UFC bantamweight Julianna Peña will get her first top-10 opponent in the division's 6th-ranked fighter, Jessica Eye. The two will kick off the main card of the ultra hyped UFC 192, which will emanate from Houston's Toyota Center. The bout undoubtedly represents the starkest test of the 26-year-old Peña's career, though her journey to this point has not been an easy one.

Peña first burst into mainstream consciousness as the first ever female winner of The Ultimate Fighter—an honor she earned with on-air stoppage victories over Shayna Baszler, Sarah Moras and Jessica Rakoczy. As such, she was immediately regarded as a promising addition to the growing UFC women's bantamweight roster. Unfortunately, she hit a speed bump before she could really push the gas pedal to the floor.

In early 2014, it was announced that Peña had had a rather severe run-in with the injury bug, which left her ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus damaged. This accident kept her out of action for an entire year, during which time she regrettably lost her grip on our attention.

Thankfully, however, surgery and extensive rehab were able to bring Peña back to full strength, and finally, after far too much waiting, the talented bantamweight was scheduled for her first post-TUF scrap inside the Octagon. Her dance partner was 11-3 Milana Dudieva; a proven finisher on a 3-fight streak. Dudieva's skill, when coupled with Peña's recent injury and long layoff left many wondering how the TUF winner would fare.

As it turns out, Peña looked like a downright animal in that comeback fight, stopping Dudieva on punches in the first round and earning Performance of the Night honors in the process. And so finally, with a big win behind her and a clean bill of health to her name, the TUF winner had re-emerged as a promising member of the UFC women's bantamweight division.

Her reward for this re-emergence is this looming fight with Eye. Well, maybe "reward "isn't the right word. Eye, after all, represents a massive step up in competition for Peña. A glance at the Ohio fighter's recent record might not insinuate as much (she's 2-1 in her last 3), but the fact is, Eye is one of the bantamweight division's very best competitors.

A quick rundown on Eye: she's the owner of some of her weight class's best boxing. She's experienced against some of WMMA's most prominent figures—Sarah Kaufman, Alexis Davis and Miesha Tate to name a few. She's part of a great training camp; Independence, Ohio's Strong Mixed Martial Arts, which you may know as the home of surging UFC heavyweight contender Stipe Miocic. Yes, against Eye, Peña will have little room for error.

Of course, a Peña victory is not out of the question either. In fact, the betting odds identify her as a favorite to win, as she is currently hanging around -250. This is likely due to a few factors. First, she is the bigger, stronger fighter. She is a natural bantamweight, while Eye fought most of her pre-UFC career as a flyweight. Furthermore, if Eye has any weaknesses, they're in the grappling department—which happens to be Peña's forte.

As ever, there's no way to know who will win this fight until the cage door closes, the ref waves the action on, and the opening bell rings. In advance of the bout, it's clear that both women have their avenues to victory, and a result in either fighter's favor would not be surprising. A definite answer as to who will come out on top though, will simply have to remain a mystery until Saturday night.

In advance of the fight, however, there is one certainty. In the ever dangerous Jessica Eye, Julianna Peña has a ticket to the inside of the UFC bantamweight top-10. In the past, the TUF winner has called for a fight with the division's absurdly-dominant champion, Ronda Rousey. At this stage, requests for such a massive matchup are decidedly premature—she simply hasn't earned it yet. That being said, a win over Jessica Eye this weekend will give Peña a massive push in that direction. It may only be a matter of time before she makes it all the way there.