Julianna Peña became a two-time bantamweight champion but not without some controversy after she edged out Raquel Pennington by split decision in the UFC 307 co-main event.
There were a couple of close rounds but Pennington seemed to surge ahead during the final 10 minutes, especially after she dropped Peña with a vicious right hand late in the fight. Still, Peña survived and two of the judges thought she did enough with a pair of 48-47 scorecards in her favor with the third judge giving the same 48-47 score to Pennington.
“I wasn’t sure,” Peña responded when asked if she thought she had done enough to earn the victory. “I heard these judges tonight were doing some crazy stuff. It’s unfortunate I went to a decision. Just a loss of focus and that’s what I would say, I got dropped. Definitely need to be a little bit more focused.”
As much as it seemed like she secured the win with a good performance in the fourth and fifth rounds, Pennington still had to leave without her title as she came up short in her first defense.
“I felt like I won that fight,” Pennington said. “I felt like I was landing more strikes and then dropping her. I was pressuring her the entire time in the fifth. It was my fault for letting it go to the judges. Back to the drawing board. Congratulations to Julianna. Good luck to everybody hearing her yap now.”
When the fight got going, it was a battle of jabs with neither fighter trying to give an inch, although Pennington seemed to be finding a more consistent home for her punches.
Pennington’s first real mistake was clinching up with Peña and then getting thrown to the ground with a body lock takedown. With Peña in side control, she started launching inside elbows while maintaining control on top and Pennington mostly stuck playing defense on the bottom.
As Pennington attempted to scramble to her feet, Peña immediately jumped on her back with the fighters still standing. Peña kept holding on but she was largely ineffective in her attempts to produce any fight-ending offense before the round came to an end.
On the restart, Peña connected with a stiff punch that got Pennington’s attention as she lunged forward with a combination. Peña also snapped off a well-timed uppercut before rushing forward for a takedown that brought Pennington crashing to the canvas.
Another scramble followed but this time Peña trapped the leg to take Pennington’s back while locking on the body triangle. Peña began launching punches before looking for the choke but Pennington survived, although the momentum shifted rather dramatically to the challenger.
As the fight moved into the fourth round, Pennington unleashed a vicious head kick that blasted Peña and that clearly gave her confidence with her striking. Pennington also started targeting the leg with calf kicks as Peña struggled to defend it.
Pennington then unleashed a huge right hand that dropped Peña and sent her to the canvas as the Salt Lake City crowd came alive. The confidence surged in the champion with Pennington continuing to apply pressure and Peña still wobbly on her feet.
In the corner, Peña’s coaches urged her to close the distance and look for the takedown but she continued to struggle with Pennington still stabbing away at her with that lead jab. Peña managed to connect with a well-timed overhand right but she just didn’t have the energy to really capitalize.
In return, Pennington came back at her with another massive right hand that hurt Peña again and she was stuck backing up with time running out. When the horn sounded, Pennington appeared confident that she did enough to win but the judges obviously said otherwise.
As for Peña, she didn’t let the crowd reaction get to her as she celebrated her title fight victory and then immediately turned her attention to a rematch she’s wanted for more than two years.
“What I’d really like is for Amanda Nunes to quit ducking and come back inside this octagon and let’s settle it,” Peña shouted. “We’re 1-1, that would be the greatest fight in mixed martial arts history in the bantamweight division this sport has ever seen. I do not believe that she’s done being retired. I want to see her back inside the octagon so we can settle the score once and for all.”
