UFC Bantamweight champion Raquel Pennigton has her sights set on a showdown with number one ranked Julianna Pena but would be happy to take on another contender in order to stay active.
Pennington was crowned the new Bantamweight champion following a gritty 5 round fight with Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297 on January 20th with a 49-46, 49-46, 49-45 unanimous decision win. Although the bout was scrappy at times, Pennington remained composed and took all but the first round on the judges scorecards.
Addressing the media after the victory, the new champion opened up about just how much it meant to finally have her hands on UFC gold. She said:
“It’s surreal. It’s 14 years of hard work coming together. I am still trying to take it all in.
“I think for me, I am my biggest critic so I wanted a totally different fight for myself for a world title fight but there’s a lot of good things to come out of that and I think everybody knows with me, I have cardio for days so as the rounds go on that's my strength. I walked out and I was extremely calm and I was like this is really weird and so I felt like I started a little slow in the first round just adjusting to everything but it worked out in my favour.
“My corner were yelling at me to let my hands go and Dana has told me since The Ultimate Fighter that there’s no reason I shouldn’t be knocking people out. He has already found me and shook me on that one and yelled at me too that I drive him nuts and I should have let my hands go a lot more.”
Having first joined the UFC on the back of The Ultimate Fighter 18 in 2013, it has been a long journey for ‘Rocky’ to find herself at the top of the division. The 35-year-old admits that the road to the title has been rough at times and that she is constantly growing and developing as a mixed martial artist.
“I learnt a lot on this journey back to the world title and being here and even some of the struggles I have had to overcome this week. You know, I believe, I freaking did it after 14 years of hard work, blood sweat and tears. So there is no more questions, I go back and now it is time to really have fun, to truly just believe in every single aspect and tonight when I was dropping some bombs, I seen it written across her face and I was just like ‘Here it is.’ And so I think that the goal for myself coming out is to let them fly!”
Looking ahead, Pennington is extremely keen on a matchup against the former champion and number one ranked contender Julianna Pena, in a contest which has been years in the making.
“That’s the fight that makes sense, I honestly thought that for the world title it would be me and Juliana but she’s still injured. That relationship goes back to 2013 when we were both on The Ultimate Fighter. Let’s just say I learnt Juliana’s personality then and it is kind of one of those ones where you’re your own person, you stay your way and I’ll stay mine but you get under my damn skin and I’ve been waiting for that fight for 13 years, whether the title is on the line or not.”
Honestly assessing the future, Pennington expressed that whether she gets her fight against Pena or not, the new champion is seriously considering bowing out of the sport after a couple of title defences.
