Raquel Pennington. David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Raquel Pennington expects to fight for bantamweight title

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 7/11/23

While Raquel Pennington never fought Julianna Pena on season 18 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013, it appears the two are on a collision course 10 years later.

While speaking to reporters at the UFC Hall of Fame over the weekend, Pennington stated that it’s only a matter of time before the UFC offers her a fight against Pena for the women’s bantamweight title that was vacated by Amanda Nunes, who retired after a unanimous-decision win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June.

“Absolutely (I should be next in line for a title shot),” Pennington said, via MMA Junkie. “I sat there and told them that when everything played out that I wanted to be next.”

Raquel Pennington wants to fight Julianna Peña for the now vacant Bantamweight title. #UFC289 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/fB5KI6gT8X
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) June 11, 2023

Pennington and Pena nearly fought in the finale of their season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” however, Pennington suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Jessica Rakoczy in the semifinal round while Pena submitted Sarah Moras in the second round to reach the tournament final, where she beat Rakoczy via first-round TKO.

Now, it appears fans will get the “TUF” finale they were robbed of a decade ago.

“I feel like — [Pena is] tough; she’s absolutely tough,” Pennington said. “Being on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with her, I won’t forget that. … Here we are 10 years later matching up, and I feel like it’s going to play for an exciting fight. I feel like it’s going to come down to whoever wants it more.”

Pennington is riding a five-fight winning streak, and she’s 6-3 since losing to Nunes via fifth-round TKO in 2018 in what’s been her only UFC title fight.

Pena was supposed to fight Nunes on that UFC 289 card, but she had to withdraw from the bout after suffering some broken ribs during training. Pena is the only fighter to beat Nunes in any of her 12 title fights, and she was only the second fighter to beat Nunes in the UFC.

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