Raquel Pennington

Raquel Pennington (born September 5, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.

As of January 23, 2024, she is #7 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Pennington grew up playing many sports from basketball, softball, volleyball, running cross country and always wanted to box.

She graduated from Harrison High School in 2007 as secretary of the National Honors Society, with many athletic and academic scholarships.

She never played sports on a collegiate level due to a broken back.

Pennington started training in martial arts at the age of 19, though initially her parents would not let her fight.

She fought in amateur MMA from 2009 to 2011, amassing a record of 7 wins and 1 loss with five of those wins by submission.

Her professional debut was in March 2012, a TKO victory against Kim Couture.

Pennington made her Invicta Fighting Championships promotional debut against future The Ultimate Fighter team mate Sarah Moras on July 28, 2012, at Invicta FC 2.

She won via unanimous decision.

Her next two fights for the promotion were both losses; one to Cat Zingano at Invicta FC 3 and one to Leslie Smith at Invicta FC 4.

In August 2013, Pennington was announced as a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate.

She defeated veteran Tonya Evinger via submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round and was the third female pick of Team Tate.

Raquel Pennington faced Jessamyn Duke in the elimination round.

Pennington defeated Duke via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 29–28) and the performance earned both participants Fight of The Season honors.

Advancing to the semi-final, Pennington next faced former boxing champion Jessica Rakoczy in the final episode of the series.

Prior to the fight, Pennington damaged her hand but was still able to fight.

She lost a unanimous decision to Rakoczy (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27).

Pennington made her promotional debut against TUF 18 team mate Roxanne Modafferi on November 30, 2013, at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale.

She won via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).

For her second fight with the promotion, Pennington replaced an injured Julianna Peña against Jéssica Andrade on March 15, 2014, at UFC 171.

She lost the back-and-forth fight via split decision.

Pennington was scheduled to face Holly Holm at UFC 181 on December 6, 2014.

However, Holm pulled out of the fight in mid-November, citing a neck injury.

Holm was replaced by UFC newcomer Ashlee Evans-Smith.

Pennington won the fight via technical submission due to a bulldog choke at the end of the first round.

She became the 4th fighter in UFC history to finish a fight with that move.

Pennington fought Holly Holm at UFC 184 on February 28, 2015, a bout that was originally supposed to take place at UFC 181.

She lost the fight via split decision.

Pennington was set to take on Liz Carmouche at UFC 191.

Carmouche was then replaced by former opponent Jéssica Andrade.

Pennington won the fight by submission in the second round.

The submission earned her a Performance of the Night bonus.

Pennington faced former UFC Bantamweight Champion and former TUF Coach Miesha Tate at UFC 205 on November 12, 2016.

She won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, and 30–27), outstriking and outwrestling Tate for all three rounds.

After being away from fighting for about a year and a half, Pennington faced Amanda Nunes on May 12, 2018, at UFC 224 in a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout.

Pennington lost the fight via TKO in the fifth round.

This was the first event in UFC history to be headlined by two openly gay fighters.

Pennington returned at UFC Fight Night 139 on November 10, 2018, where she took on former UFC featherweight champ Germaine de Randamie.

She lost the fight via unanimous decision.