Raquel Pennington is finally a world champion. “Rocky” took the long road to glory, a 12-year journey that culminated at UFC 297 in Toronto on Saturday.
Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva clashed to find an heir to the UFC women’s bantamweight throne following Amanda Nunes’ retirement. Nunes and Pennington’s wife, Tecia Torres, embraced cage-side as Pennington put the final touches on a winning effort. It was a sweet moment considering Nunes battered and broke Pennington in the latter’s first title shot in 2018.
“It’s been a long five years,” Pennington said during her post-fight interview. “I’ve climbed mountains to get back here. For everybody who is chasing a dream and you have people telling you can’t do it or you’re not good enough, stay believing because that’s exactly what I did.”
Pennington chipped away at the less experienced Bueno Silva over 25 minutes. It wasn’t pretty or exciting but effective enough to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Pennigton stayed calm through her opponent’s early submission…
