Raquel Pennington outworks Mayra Bueno Silva for title

The UFC women’s bantamweight division has a new champion, and her name is Raquel Pennington.

Former champion Amanda Nunes watched intently cageside at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto to see who would claim the title she left vacant in retirement. After 25 minutes in the UFC 297 co-main event, Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC) had the belt wrapped around her waist after earning unanimous scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 49-45, soundly defeating Mayra Bueno Silva.

There wasn’t much of a feel-out process as both landed in early exchanges. But soon enough, Pennington looked to clinch with Bueno Silva (10-3-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC), which is where most of the fight would end up playing out.

Staying calm on the defensive side, Bueno Silva was able to reverse and take Pennington’s back, squeezing a rear-naked choke. Nothing was rushed by either fighter as they patiently worked through the sequence.

Pennington came out firing punches in Round 2. Bueno Silva worked her way into a clinch against the fence. Pennington reversed and created space to land a few punches, but Bueno Silva closed the distance again. Pennington separated once more, this time landing big punches on the exit. Bueno Silva retreated across the cage as Pennington rushed forward, continuing to land.

Just when things looked bad for Bueno Silva, she was able to clinch again and find her way to Pennington’s back. A rear-naked choke attempt soon followed and it appeared deep, but Bueno Silva was unable to get a tap.

Round 3 began with Pennington going right back to work with punches in bunches, but Bueno Silva secured another clinch to slow things down. A slick choke was nearly there for Bueno Silva, but Pennington slipped out and the clinch battle continued. As the round wore on, Pennington took top control, outworking her fatigued opponent.

The championship rounds began with Bueno Silva offering kicks in space before the fight returned to the fence clinch battle. Bueno Silva took the back and slapped on another rear-naked choke, but Pennington escaped and ended up on top, where she would control for the remainder of the round.

With five minutes to go and a vacant title hanging in the balance, it appeared fatigue would be the determining factor. Pennington reversed a takedown attempt and claimed top position on the ground. An arm triangle choke followed that prompted the referee to step in closely, but Bueno Silva survived the finishing scare. Pennington returned to her feet to kick the legs of the downed Bueno Silva, who did not return to her feet in the closing moments.

The decision was read by Bruce Buffer, and UFC CEO Dana White wrapped the bantamweight title around Pennington’s waist.

It went the distance but @RockyPMMA is your NEW bantamweight champion of the world #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/lcfxcmDHqe

— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2024

After thanking her wife Tecia Torres, all of her coaches and training partners who helped her achieve her championship goal, Pennington turned her attention to the next task at hand, former champion Julianna Pena.

“I thought it was going to be Julianna next,” Pennington told Daniel Cormier. “So Julianna, get your ass better and sign the dotted line. It’s been 10 years that I’ve been waiting for that fight.”

Pennington, 35, becomes UFC champion in her 18th fight with the promotion. It was her second shot at gold, the first coming against Nunes at UFC 224 in 2018. After putting together a five-fight winning streak that began in June 2020, “Rocky” sits atop the division after extending her run to six in a row.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 297 results include:

• Raquel Pennington def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)
• Neil Magny def. Mike Malott via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:45
• Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via split decision (30-27, 28–29, 30-27)
• Movsar Evloev def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Garrett Armfield def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Sean Woodson def. Charles Jourdain via split decision (29-28, 28–29, 29-28)
• Ramon Taveras def. Serhiy Sidey via split decision (29-28, 28–29, 29-28)
• Gillian Robertson def. Polyana Viana via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:12
• Sam Patterson def. Yohan Lainesse via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:03
• Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Priscila Cachoeira via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 3, 4:21
• Jimmy Flick def. Malcolm Gordon via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:17

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.