NEW YORK – Pressure? What pressure? If it exists for Raquel Pennington ahead of tonight’s historic UFC 205 card, she’s finding a way to send it packing.
Pennington (8-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has the enviable job of opening up UFC 205’s pay-per-view main card – the promotion’s long-awaited return to New York and debut at Madison Square Garden – when she meets former champ Miesha Tate (18-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC), who’s trying to rebound from losing the women’s bantamweight title to Amanda Nunes in July.
And while Pennington said she feels the magnitude of being on such a historic event in a historic venue, she’s managing to stay honed in on Tate – not any extra stress.
“I’m not really looking for the pressure, so I just kind of take it away from myself,” Pennington told MMAjunkie on Wednesday at a media day at Madison Square Garden. “It’s something that I think I’ll let set into reality and absorb after all this is said and done. But right now, it’s just another fight for me. It’s against a tough opponent, but I’ve just got to go in there and focus on what I can control.”
Pennington has been in the cage with championship-caliber opponents before. In 2012 in Invicta FC, she lost to eventual UFC title challenger Cat Zingano. At UFC 184, she dropped a split call to Holly Holm, who went on to upset Ronda Rousey to win the title before losing the belt to Tate. And in April, she beat former title challenger Bethe Correia.
But she said the fight with Tate is her most important one yet.
“I feel phenomenal; I’m extremely excited, calm, confident,” Pennington said. “It definitely is (the biggest fight of my career). She’s been around for a while. I think the up-and-coming fighters are dangerous. I’m one of those up-and-coming fighters. I plan to be the better fighter in all aspects. I know she’s tough, but I’ll just be tougher.
“I think I’ve kind of always been the darkhorse in women’s MMA, so I’m finally getting the spotlight that I deserve.”
With 13 career pro fights and seven in the UFC, it might be a little farfetched to consider Pennington an up-and-coming fighter. But it’s true her name hasn’t hovered around talk of title shots.
Next up in the division, champ Amanda Nunes, who beat Tate to take the belt, fights Rousey in UFC 207’s main event. Julianna Pena is unbeaten in the UFC and appears to be waiting for a title shot. But a win over Tate could have Pennington squarely in that mix.
“It’s just exciting,” she said. “I’m grateful to be a part of this opportunity, making history and whatnot. But I just really try to avoid the pressure. I’m just focusing on it being another big fight in front of another big crowd.”
And if a win over Tate happens, and the title talk begins?
“I think I’m right there, so any day I’ll be waiting for that phone call,” she said.
For more on UFC 205, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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