And just like that, one of the quietest title reigns in UFC history has ended.
Julianna Pena defeated Raquel Pennington via split decision in the co-main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City to become a two-time women’s bantamweight champion.
Pena had criticized Pennington in the leadup to Saturday’s event in Utah, saying that she had not been doing enough during her time as champ to promote the sport and the division.
Pennington won the title – after the belt had been vacated following the retirement of long-time champ Amanda Nunes in 2023 – by beating Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297 in January.
Pena, 35, previously won the bantamweight championship in December 2021 when she pulled off a submission upset of Nunes at UFC 269; Nunes handily won the rematch at UFC 277 in July 2022.
"The Venezuelan Vixen" hadn’t fought since that loss to Nunes. Pena had been scheduled to face Nunes in a trilogy bout at UFC 289 in June 2023 but was replaced by Irene Aldana after sustaining broken ribs in training.
Pennington, 36, had wanted to make her first title defence against Pena, explaining in January she had “been waiting for that fight for years whether the title is on the line or not.”
Both Pennington and Pena got their initial shot at UFC contracts through appearances on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate reality series more than 10 years ago. The two were teammates during that tournament – Pena won that season of TUF – and their paths never crossed in the Octagon despite both being stalwarts in the division.
When they finally did meet in the Octagon in Utah, it was a closely contested bout that required the judges.
Pena began controlling the action with her grappling after a narrow opening round and had Pennington franticly defending a rear-naked choke attempt when she had back control in the second; she also controlled the third with control time.
Pennington landed a nifty head kick to open Round 4 as the women increased their output, and later in the round dropped Pena with a massive right that was set up beautifully.
Pena was stung by Pennington again in the fifth as the two women traded punches over the final five minutes, but ultimately the decision came down to which fighter won that close opening round.
One judge scored the bout 48-47 for Pennington but two had it 48-47 Pena with the new champion winning the first three rounds and losing the final two on those two scorecards.
The new champ could potentially next face Kayla Harrison.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist in judo improved to 2-0 in the UFC and 18-1 in MMA with a unanimous decision win over Ketlen Viera earlier on the UFC 307 main card.
“Ladies, enjoy it while you can because the queen is home and I’m coming for that (expletive) gold,”
Pena was asked about Harrison and completely ducked the question, instead deciding to call out the retired Amanda Nunes for a trilogy fight.
“I felt like I won that fight,” a disappointed Pennington told Joe Rogan following the bout. “It was my fault for letting it go to the judges.”
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