Heading into the house, both landed on Team Tate, which led to them being roommates. After each turned in impressive performances in their opening round matchups — Pena submitting veteran Shayna Baszler, Pennington out-working Jessamyn Duke in a bout that would end up being selected as Fight of the Season — most expected that they would meet in the finals, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Dana thought we were gonna match up in the finale,” began Pennington when asked to explain the origin of her tensions with Pena. “She won the season, I won Fight of the Season, and during that fight, I sustained a broken hand, fractured forearm, and some stitches, then had to fight a week-and-a-half later.
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“I went into the house and I didn’t know Julianna. There were a few athletes that I knew of them, but I didn’t know them. I wasn’t raised to bully people, so when I went into the house and this girl (Pena) was getting bullied, I was like, ‘Damn, this is jacked up.’ We ended up on the same team, we were roommates, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna try to befriend you,’ and I quickly learned about our different personalities.
“When you’re living with somebody — everybody is under constant stress, and you’re living, breathing, eating, sleeping, doing what you’re dreaming of, there’s a lot of emotions going on in the house,” the champion added with a smile. “On top of that, I felt she had a lack of respect for my space, and it was just little things that added up over time.
“So it’s one of those types of things.”
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