SALT LAKE CITY – Raquel Pennington was visibly flustered Saturday after Bruce Buffer announced the winner of the UFC 307 bantamweight title fight.
For the first time since 2020, Pennington didn’t hear her name called following a bout.
Judges awarded Julianna Peña a 48-47 split-decision victory over Pennington in their five-round bantamweight title match at the Delta Center and Peña stopped the former champ’s six-fight winning streak.
“I felt like I won that fight,” Pennington said in her post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I was landing more strikes and dropping her. … I was pressuring her the entire time in the fifth.”
After controlling the first round, Peña scored on a takedown in the second and dominated the third with another takedown and a rear naked choke near the end of the middle round.
Pennington managed to escape the hold and returned to her corner knowing she needed significant strikes in the fourth to remain in the fight.
Seconds into the fourth, Pennington landed a left leg kick on the right side of Peña’s head that rocked her and made the then-challenger stumble.
Near the end of the penultimate round, Pennington landed a right jab that dropped Peña to the mat.
Pennington started the final round by waving her arms, attempting to liven up the crowd and pursued Peña most of the fifth.
As the fight concluded, the pair, who have had a heated rivalry since their time on The Ultimate Fighter more than a decade ago, embraced as both separated and went to their respective sides of the cage.
But as they returned to the center of the octagon to hear the judges’ scores, Buffer announced Peña as the new champ.
“This has been a familiar place to me. It’s my fault for letting it go to the judges,” Pennington said. “It’s back to the drawing board and it’s only going to get better from here. Good luck to everyone listening to her yap now.”
When asked by reporters about the judging at UFC 307, during the post-event press conference, UFC CEO Dana White offered a succinct response.
“I thought the judging (Saturday) was atrocious,” White said. “It felt like I was at a boxing match in Ireland.”
Pennington previously earned victories in her last six bouts, dating back to 2020. After the loss, Pennington remains one victory shy of tying Amanda Nunes for most in the bantamweight division with 13.
This story has been updated with additional quotes from Raquel Pennington and Dana White
