Pennington, Silva clash for vacant UFC women’s bantamweight title

MANILA, Philippine – In UFC 297 on Sunday, January 21, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington will battle Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight crown.

There has been a bit of controversy after the selection of Silva (10-2-1, 1 no contest) for this title bout. In her previous outing where she bested Holly Holm with a ninja choke, her triumph was declared no contest after she tested positive for a banned substance.

Yet prior to the Holm fight, Silva was on a three-match tear. With top-ranked Julianna Peña injured, the bout seeds Silva into that slot against Pennington, who herself is on a five-match win streak.

Regarding this opportunity, the 35-year old Pennington (15-9-0) made no bones of what it will mean. 

“It’s the ultimate goal. It’s the reward that ties together all my hard work for the last 14 years. Being committed to a craft for so long with so much hard work, blood, sweat and tears, it is something cool that I can get to share with my daughter,” she said.

Pennington described her baby, Alaya Rose, as “a game-changer, and happy little girl.”

“She has brought a different motivation and purpose,” summed up Pennington. 

That motivation and purpose is crystalized into the bantamweight title. No doubt, it will not be easy as Silva has repeatedly sounded off that this division is hers to dominate.

“She’s going to be tough and bring the fight,” said Pennington. “However, I feel she is still green. She is talking crap and play her part. In my opinion, she still has a lot to experience. Holy Holm was her first Top 10 opponent and she isn’t the same fighter she was now that she is in her 40s. No disrespect to the other fighters but this is foreign territory for Silva.”

“The difference is I have been fighting for 14 years and have been in the UFC for 10-plus years now.”

Pennington admitted though that she expected to take on Peña after Amanda Nunes vacated the title and retired. 

“She (Silva) isn’t who I expect to fight. I expected Julianna Peña first.”

As for Silva, Pennington plans to control the pace and use what is in her toolbox. 

“People categorize me as a striker but they have not seen my ground game. Once I slow the fight down, I can go in there and use my tool box.”

“I don’t feel Silva can hang with me in a five-round fight.”

UFC 297 and its main event of Sean Strickland versus Dricus Du Plesis and co-main event of Pennington-Silva will be televised live in the Philippines on the Premier Sports Channel on Sky Cable and Cignal as well as on the Blast TV streaming application.

The early prelims begin at 7 a.m. with the preliminary card at 9 a.m. The main card gets underway at 11 a.m.