Raquel Pennington beats Mayra Bueno Silva to win bantamweight belt at UFC 297

At the UFC 297 co-main event on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, Raquel Pennington won the vacant 135-pound title by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45).

Though it was a demanding event from beginning to end, Pennington dominated the final four rounds. Throughout the battle, she sought submissions, delivered hard blows to the feet, and used ground-and-pound tactics to establish herself as the new champion.

Bueno Silva had a solid first round, but as the fight went on, she dropped. In the fourth round, she almost locked in a rear-naked choke, but Pennington managed to get free.

Silva seemed fatigued in the final round. Pennington, who is younger, attacks early, landing several punches to the head. As the duo clinches against the cage, ‘Rocky’ scores a takedown and seizes control. Pennington is trying to end the bout with an arm triangle choke.

With a minute remaining, ‘Rocky’ abandons the choke in favour of savage ground and pound tactics. The American climbs back up and strikes her opponent’s legs repeatedly. However, a weary Silva seemed to have accepted her fate and opted against getting back on her feet.

Pennington sealed the deal with a dominant grappling performance in the fifth round.

Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva competed for the UFC women’s bantamweight title after Amanda Nunes retired. Nunes and Pennington’s wife, Tecia Torres, hugged cageside after Pennington finished a winning performance. It was a beautiful occasion given that Nunes hammered and shattered Pennington in her first title attempt in 2018.

Her victory enabled her to make the largest move this week, climbing five spots to No. 7 on the women’s pound-for-pound rankings. Pennington is presently on a six-game winning streak, which is the greatest of her career. She most recently defeated Ketlen Vieira in a split decision last January, giving her another shot at the 135-pound crown. Silva struggled to build a name for herself at 125 pounds early in her UFC career, but following a decision defeat to Manon Fiorot in 2021, “MBS” moved to 135 pounds and hasn’t looked back since.

“I expected to come out here and do a lot more, feel a lot different, but a fight’s a fight. Mayra was tough,” Pennington explained. “It’s been a long five years. I had to climb mountains to get back here,” she added.

“It got to the point where it wasn’t pretty and they said, ‘I don’t even care if you get booed out here. Work your butt off and get this done,’ and that’s exactly what I did. It’s not as easy as everyone might think,” Pennington said.

Pennington will likely face Julianna Peña, who previously defeated Nunes for the championship but lost the rematch. Peña, who attended Saturday, lost out on a trilogy with Nunes due to the latter’s retirement and will now face a fellow UFC veteran to win the championship.

“Julianna get your ass better and sign on the dotted line. It’s been 10 years that I’ve been waiting for that fight,” Pennington challenged.