UFC 205 results: Raquel Pennington dominates Miesha Tate, who announces retirement

NEW YORK – By the time Miesha Tate dragged Raquel Pennington into the type of grappling fight that favored her, she was already down two rounds and struggling.

Then Pennington (9-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) outworked the ex-champ on the mat, sealing a unanimous decision that prompted an unexpected retirement announcement from Tate (18-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC).

The women’s bantamweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The final scorecards were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Pennington, who picked up her fourth straight win in dominant fashion and wound up bookmarking the career of one of the most famous female fighters in the UFC.

Tate, the No. 3 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings, indicated the decision to call it quits wasn’t premeditated and came with the one-sided result of the fight, her second straight loss after the unceremonious end of her title reign. Current champ Amanda Nunes brutalized her in July at UFC 200, taking the belt just four months after she upset No. 6 Holly Holm to claim the crown.

“It’s not my time any more,” said Tate.

Pennington, the No. 15 ranked fighter, made it clear she wouldn’t be easy fodder for Tate, expertly keeping distance with a jab and following with right hands that inflamed her opponent’s oft-broken nose.

When Tate attempted to push the affair to the cage, she met a front choke that briefly took her off her feet and forced her to use the cage to save herself from unconsciousness. She gutted out the bad position and managed to get a takedown, but it wasn’t long before Pennington was back up.

Pennington resisted further efforts to take the fight to the mat, landing several powerful right hands that stunned Tate.

Down on scorecards, Tate grew weary of pretense and made the bold move of pulling guard in the third frame. On her back, she threatened to secure an armbar and set up for a triangle. Pennington, however, was ready for the attack and gamely defended. As the bout ended, Pennington had Tate in trouble, landing powerful shots from top position.

When the two stepped to center-cage for the official result, there was no doubt Pennington would secure the win. But it was a surprise to see the sudden end of Tate’s career.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Pennington said. “It’s exciting to be a part of the first UFC card at Madison Square Garden. It’s surreal to me. I tried to put all of that pressure to the side, so I think it’s still setting in and will feel even better over the next couple of days. This was a huge fight for me – the biggest fight of my career. She’s a huge name in the sport and a former champion. During ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ we developed a friendship – but business is business. I knew I had to go out there and take care of business tonight.

“I feel like a lot of people underestimate my ground game, but I am a grappler at heart and I feel my most comfortable there so her submission attempts didn’t feel threatening. I just waited for her to make small mistakes and, when she did, I was ready to start teeing off. I want to keep working my way up. I’ve been the dark horse of women’s MMA for a while and I feel like I deserve the top spot. I want the title shot but I will fight anyone above me.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 205 results include:

• Raquel Pennington def. Miesha Tate via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Frankie Edgar def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Michael Johnson via submission (kimura) – Round 3, 2:31
• Tim Boetsch def. Rafael Natal via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:22
• Vicente Luque def. Belal Muhammad via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:19
• Jim Miller def. Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
• Liz Carmouche def. Katlyn Chookagian via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage UFC 205, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Matt Erickson and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in New York.)