UFC lightweight Luis Pena was already dealing with major changes in his life when he received a message that would turn most people’s worlds upside down.
To say that Pena — known affectionately as “The Violent Bob Ross” — has had a unique upbringing, would be an understatement. He was born in Naples, Italy, a result of his biological mother being in the Navy, but raised in Arkansas primarily by his adopted mother Rose and stepfather David Dunbar. Pena’s adopted father, Luis Pena Sr., divorced Rose when Luis was three years old.
It was David who fostered Pena’s love of wrestling, despite knowing little about the sport himself.