LAS VEGAS – Raquel Pennington has lengthy been wanting ahead to combating Julianna Pena.
UFC girls’s bantamweight champion Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC) and Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) have been on a collision course ever since their time on Season 18 of “The Final Fighter,” however they by no means crossed paths contained in the octagon.
Now Pennington is closing in on her first title protection, which Peña hinted will happen at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake Metropolis. Pennington sees Peña because the combat to make over not too long ago signed Kayla Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who submitted Holly Holm in her promotional debut at UFC 300 in April.
“That’s the combat that I’ve had in thoughts,” Pennington advised MMA Junkie and different reporters on the crimson carpet of the 2024 UFC Corridor of Fame. “Clearly you’ve had Kayla Harrison come to the UFC and it’s thrilling to have such an individual with a resume and with an enormous title behind her and the hype prepare behind her.
“However, simply being a kind of athletes who’s been within the sport for thus lengthy and I’ve needed to work from the bottom up, I simply don’t discover it truthful for her to come back in and work her solution to the highest instantly. With Julianna, it’s been a combat that I’ve had in sight for what, 11 years now? Since ‘The Final Fighter’ so, that’s the one which’s within the works.”
Pennington clarifies that whereas combating Peña is her precedence, she sees a matchup with Harrison within the close to future.
“I need something that the UFC throws my approach,” Pennington stated. “I’ve been a gamer on this sport ever since I’ve began so, I’m not against anyone. I simply really feel like Julianna’s been right here loads longer, she was a champion as nicely.
“We’ve a historical past from ‘The Final Fighter.’ Someway we haven’t fought within the final 11 years. It’s a combat that I’ve undoubtedly been wanting ahead to. I plan on whooping Julianna’s ass and after I whoop her ass, then I’d like to tackle Kayla.”
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