Raquel Pennington was an Invicta FC veteran when she appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 18 in 2013. She advanced to the semifinal round of the reality series tournament and made her official UFC debut during the season’s finale defeating Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision. She’s 6-2 inside the octagon and her two losses are by split decision.
“Rocky” is riding a four-fight winning streak and faces bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in the UFC 224 main event on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 29-year old enters the title fight coming off the biggest win over her career, a unanimous decision victory over former champion Miesha Tate at UFC 205 in November 2016. Due to injury, Pennington hasn’t fought since.
When she makes the walk to the cage against Nunes, Pennington will be a heavy underdog. She’ll also be in enemy territory facing a Brazilian in Brazil. She’s used to being the underdog and embraces the role.
“I think that I’ve been underestimated my entire career, so it’s something that I’m kind of used to. It actually takes the pressure off of me and I can just go out and continue to chase the passion and have fun,” she said during the UFC 224 press conference.
While Pennington is used to being the underdog, she’s getting a little tired of people underestimating her. She plans on proving a point when she faces Nunes in May.
“Is it something that I’m really tired of? Yeah. I’m on a mission to prove my own point, and people really need to stop underestimating me,” she said.
