The burden of being UFC champion is an immense one, and for Raquel Pennington, it meant preparing for two opponents at UFC 307.
Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC) is currently scheduled to put her women’s bantamweight title on the line for the first time when she meets Julianna Peña (10-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in the co-main event of the Oct. 5 card, which takes place at Delta Center in Salt Lake City (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).
Peña hasn’t fought in more than two years and has had four different fights canceled for various reasons since 2020. Pennington said she took that track record into account leading into UFC 307, and when Kayla Harrison, who fights on the same card against Ketlen Vieira, said she wanted to be the backup for the title fight, the champion thought it was best to get herself ready for all scenarios.
