Raquel Pennington joined an exclusive club on Saturday night.
The Colorado Springs native defeated Mayra Bueno Silva (10-3-1) via unanimous decision at UFC 297 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto to win the vacant women’s bantamweight title. With the win, she became just the third Colorado-born fighter to win a UFC championship, joining Shane Carwin and Benson Henderson.
“It’s surreal,” Pennington said during the post-fight news conference. “It’s 14 years of hard work coming together.”
The title was vacated in June when then-champion Amanda Nunes announced her retirement following her win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289.
Pennington (16-8) has been on fire since losing to Holly Holm in January 2020. Since then, the 35-year-old has been on a six-match winning streak.
Following her win, she called out Julianna Pena (11-5), who’s ranked No. 1 in the division.
“That’s the fight that makes sense. I honestly thought for the world title it would be me and Julianna, but she’s still injured,” Pennington said. “That relationship just goes back to 2013 when we were both on ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ … You get under my damn skin. I’ve been waiting for that fight for 13 years whether the title’s on the line or not.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
