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Raquel Pennington Says Julianna Peña Chasing ‘Ghost’ Amanda Nunes (Exclusive)

"I deserve the rematch," Raquel Pennington reflects on her title loss at UFC 307, talks Julianna Peña, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison.

Christopher De Santiago

UFC

After 25 fights and a UFC title, Raquel Pennington is "more motivated than ever" to beat Julianna Peña.

Raquel Pennington Disputes UFC 307 Loss, Demands Rematch

The UFC women's bantamweight champion earlier this year, Pennington's now the #1 contender following a controversial split decision loss to former champ Pena at UFC 307, which saw two judges scores rounds 1-3 for Peña. The rest of the world saw the fight differently with the vast majority of fans and media on MMA Decisions scoring rounds 1, 4, and 5 for Pennington to retain the title.

"Rocky" Opens Up On Title Loss: "My Heart Hurts But My Head Is High..."

However, it all falls on the official judges at cageside to decide who wins and loses and a week removed from a night filled of split decisions, Pennington reflects on her title loss and the five-round fight she thought she had won.

"I rewatched the fight, reflected a little bit. The emotional part's different, but at the end of the day, my heart hurts, but my head is high," Pennington told MMA Knockout. "I've been in the sport for 14 years. I've gone to judges decisions a lot and honestly, with this fight, this is one fight that I felt completely confident going into the judges decision. It's a weird loss to say the least.

"At the end of the day, I still feel like a champion. I spoke with UFC and stuff, had really great conversations. Just the feedback that I've been getting from multiple different athletes, it's just a weird situation. I mean, the entire media outlet had it completely scored for me. The big names as far as, like, Joe Rogan, Dana, Hunter, DC, Jon Anik, all of them. Just in that moment when everything happened, the looks that they gave and the head shakes that they were like, 'No way.'"

Former UFC Champion Raquel Penningto
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"Huge Inconsistency" In MMA Judging

The last two UFC events, UFC 307 and UFC Vegas 98 have had 14 fights go the distance with eight of those fights being scored a split decision.

"In MMA, I feel like they need to get the judging down," Pennington added. "I feel like there's just a very huge inconsistency when it comes to the judging, which really sucks, because when it comes down to that and it takes one person to all of a sudden give away something. It takes so much away from us. It's a really interesting dynamic. I had this conversation with UFC, and it's like, what are they really looking for?

"It's just interesting how one thing is said, and it's like, okay, here's these rules. But then it feels like things are changing when you're in the midst of things. It boiled down to round 1 and stuff, but I definitely had the most damage. I was doing damaging strikes in that fight. I had cage control the entire time. There was a lot of things going on, so it's interesting."

UFC 307: Pennington vs. Pen
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"The night of my fight with Jose Aldo, I don't even understand his fight... It's just crazy because that one person, they make a decision, and it's like, you have the best seat in the house. Like, what are you looking at when the entire world can see completely different than what you see?"

Pennington Reacts To Peña Calling Out Retired Amanda Nunes Post-Fight

Shortly after the scorecards were read, declaring Peña the winner, the two-time champ would waste no time in calling out retired rival, the consensus greatest female fighter of all time in Amanda Nunes, after all they are 1-1 in their series.

But, many took issue with Peña's next steps as #2 contender Kayla Harrison likely earned a title shot with her second UFC win over Ketlen Vieira earlier in the night.

"She cracks me up," Pennington reacted to Pena calling out Nunes. "She yaps and yaps and yaps. She talks crap to Kayla, she says all the things, but then the minute that she has the opportunity, it's like, okay, Kayla's there... you want to go chase a ghost. Amanda's retired. I know she's making little gestures on social media and stuff, but, as of currently, like, she's not coming back.

"The fact that you want to run your mouth and then you're not actively looking at your competition that's in the division, it's incredible to me. It just shows more of her personality, to say the least...

UFC Champion Julianna Pen
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"Quit Detouring Or Just Quit Running Your Mouth..."

Amanda Nunes has alluded to a comeback recently, tagging Dana White in a video with the UFC boss more than happy to have her back fighting again. However, Pena said on The Ariel Helwani Show that she's been told by the UFC that Nunes wants to fight the winner between her and Harrison, who "The Venezuelan Vixen" had snubbed in her post-fight interview.

"It's frustrating to watch. She's just like, oh, like, 'I want to be a representation, or I'm a great representation of women's MMA...' All she does is run her mouth and does the weirdest things," Pennington said of Pena. "She's somebody, I think that will just kind of always with just her personality get under my skin with just the way she acts. Like, alright, you got the world title given to you. Now turn around and fight somebody who's actively in the division. Quit detouring or just quit running your mouth."

Former UFC Champion Raquel Penningto
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Pennington Says She Deserves Rematch, Comments On Harrison's Weight Cut Concerns

One potential roadblock in the Peña vs. Harrison title fight, should it happen, is Harrison's weight cut to get down to 135lbs. Harrison, a former PFL lightweight, has yet to make championship weight in the UFC, tipping the scales at 135lbs for the first time in her career and again, in a six-month span.

Whether or not Harrison needs more time to rest and recover before preparing for Peña, Pennington firmly believes she has a case to fight Peña next.

"First and foremost, I definitely feel like I deserve the rematch," the former champ continued. "It's something that does happen. This wasn't just another fight, it's for a world title. At the same time, especially when it comes to a championship fight, a lot of time they say you have to beat the champ to be the champ and I don't feel like she beat me, and so I want the rematch."

Harrison shared a similar sentiment on Pennington's split decision loss, telling TMZ she thought she had done enough to retain the title against Pena. While they might fight someday, Pennington has mutual respect for Harrison, who says she's like a "walking anatomy chart" trying to get down to 135lbs.

"A lot of people don't realize the effects that weight cuts take on the body. It's a lot. Kayla has a physique that, she's a walking anatomy chart. So to really try to pull weight and water weight and everything off of that, that takes a lot of work.

"I'm not like this walking an anatomy chart or whatnot, but, like, even for me, people get fooled by my Mexi-roll, that's what I call it. It's my reserved energy, but they get fooled by it and they're just like, you should be at 125. I have a really, really, really hard time making 135 and when it comes to that one pound, you get the allowance of 136 and that one pound makes a very, very big difference. So I'm sure that's definitely taken a toll on her, especially when she's not used to competing at 135.

UFC's Kayla Harriso
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"I think just in general for her own health... we're human beings and we need to be healthy. So, I definitely think she's going to need that time off to kind of recover and let her body heal from that [weight cut], especially if she was having issues the week prior to the fight."

Pennington 'Hungry' To Reclaim Title: "Next Time... My Hands Are Flying"

In talks with the UFC about what's next, Pena vs. Pennington 2 could a be a reality if Harrison takes a breather from competition and Nunes, an even longer retirement. "Rocky" says she walked out of the fight healthy, ready to get back out there, though she has her doubts on when Pena will return.

Peña has previously shut down the idea of an immediate rematch with Pennington, saying on MMA on Sirius XM she'd beat her "TUF" rival "10 out of 10 times".

"Julianna makes me laugh," Pennington responded to Peña. "The stuff that comes out of her mouth, she's a clown, I'll give her that. Literally, a clown. But at the end of the day, I've seen it in her eyes multiple times in there. She's the one that went stumbling across the octagon. She's the one that fell on her ass. I'm not intimidated by Julianna. I don't have any emotions towards that. Going into this fight was the calmest I've ever felt.

UFC 307: Pennington vs. Pen
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"So now, I'm hungry, I'm upset with things, and more motivated than ever. I dropped her on her butt, and that wasn't even my full power. You can rewatch that. I barely even rotated my hips. So to go out there the next time I'm preparing... my hands are flying. I didn't let my right hand go the way that I should have, and so my right hand is definitely going to be sent multiple times."

Winner of six of her last seven fights and a staple of women's 135 since 2013, is Raquel Pennington deserving of an immediate rematch with Julianna Pena?

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Christopher De Santiago
CHRISTOPHER DE SANTIAGO

Christopher De Santiago is a 22 year-old journalist from Gainesville, Texas with years of experience covering MMA.

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