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Raquel Pennington was able to capture the vacant women's bantamweight title at UFC 297 as she defeated Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision last month. Former women's bantamweight champion Julianna Pena now appears to be the first in line to challenge for the title. 'Rocky' recently revealed that she has been waiting for the opportunity to face 'The Venezuelan Vixen' for more than a decade.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the bantamweight champion stated:
"You can keep running your mouth. You can keep saying all these things. I feel like Julianna has a very delusional version of our history together, but it makes it fun, right? It's building a storyline and the more she keeps talking and yapping, she's selling things. Good for you, but at the end of the day, our fists are going to talk and I'll tell you what, it is a fight I've been waiting for since 2013 [when] we were on The Ultimate Fighter."
Pennington continued:
"Somehow, our time has not aligned, but obviously, it's coming and I'm excited to finally punch her a** in the mouth. I will say that... I thought she was going to be the one that we were going to fight for the vacant title, but she's still battling an injury I guess. That's what I have in mind next. That's the fight I want next. That's where my mind frame is at. That's where my coaches mind frames are at so we'll see how it plays out."
Check out Raquel Pennington's comments on Julianna Pena below:
Pena recently took aim at Pennington's work ethic during their time together on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. She claimed that the newly-crowned bantamweight champion was in the bunk bed above her and would never come to the first practice as she would stay up late and sleep in.
Raquel Pennington slams Sean Strickland's comments on women's mixed martial arts
Raquel Pennington was seated next to Sean Strickland at the UFC 297 press conference as he took aim at women's mixed martial arts. Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, 'Rocky' slammed his comments, stating:
"I just think it was disgusting on his part to even be concerned about us as human beings and our lifestyle, and just the comments he was making, and at the end of the day, MMA has grown a ton. The women are here. We're here to stay. The divisions are growing. You have tons of up-and-coming talent so to criticize female athletes, I don't agree with any of that but I can't control that and that wasn't my focus."
Check out Raquel Pennington's comments on Sean Strickland below:
Pennington added that she was focused on preparing for her matchup with Mayra Bueno Silva. She noted that despite Strickland's comments, the two were still fighting in the co-main event of the card.
