January 21, 2024 12: 50 am ET
Raquel Pennington’s long journey to gold finally reached the pinnacle on Saturday when she defeated Mayra Bueno Silva in the UFC 297 co-headliner.
After failing in her first title bid in May 2018, Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC) built herself back to the top and capped a six-fight winning streak with a unanimous decision victory over Silva (10-3-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) to claim the vacant women’s bantamweight title at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Check below for the top X (formerly Twitter) reactions to Pennington’s triumph over Silva at UFC 297.
Chael Sonnen
OK, real fast, let’s reminisce. Everybody state what each of these gals did that got you most excited for this fight!
— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) January 21, 2024
Bloody Elbow
Bueno Silva looking for calf kicks early. Pennington looking to counter over the top. #UFC297
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) January 21, 2024
Kevin Iole
Silva has Pennington’s back and is working to get the choke sunk in
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) January 21, 2024
Cageside Press
MBS ON THE BACK WITH ROCKY STANDING!!!! BACKPACK TIME!
Rocky fighting the hands.
Rocky with elbows to the quads. MBS happy to threaten and make Rocky carry her weight. MBS trying to get the other hook, nope. #UFC297
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) January 21, 2024
Damon Martin
10-9 Mayra Bueno Silva.
Once she got the takedown, Pennington was stuck playing defense and that’s where they stayed for the final two minutes of the round. #UFC297
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) January 21, 2024
Anton Tabuena
Pennington’s corner imploring her to “believe” in her hands and not shoot for a takedown.
— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) January 21, 2024
Mookie Alexander
Silva’s defense is terrible.
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) January 21, 2024
Aaron Bronsteter
10-9 Pennington
19-19 after R2
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 21, 2024
Oscar Willis
Sometimes Mayra looks like she tries to block punches with eye contact
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) January 21, 2024
Aaron Bronsteter
29-28 Pennington, showing her trademark grit entering the championship rounds
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 21, 2024
Marcel Dorff
UFC already looking to let the winner of this fight defend the title next time they visit Canada. 😅 #UFC297
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) January 21, 2024
Marion Reneau
2-1 Pennington. I knew her opponent would begin to Gas out. #UFC297
— Marion Reneau (@BelizeanBruiser) January 21, 2024
Fight Ghost
Bueno Silva looking like she wants to quit in the corner. #UFC297
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) January 21, 2024
Cageside Press
R4 – Rocky BIG right hand!!!! MBS leg kick, but here comes Rocky! She puts the pressure on MBS! High kick!
MBS body kicks touch, Rocky lands on her too! MBS clinches her, but Rocky puts her on the fence!
Knees to the legs from Rocky! #UFC297
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) January 21, 2024
Ant Evans
Nunes’ retirement was the perfect chance to wrap up both the women’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
But, oh no, noted libtard Dana White wants us all to pretend this shit is entertaining. But wokeness, I guess. #UFC297
— Ant Evans (@AntEvansMMA) January 21, 2024