Salt Lake City – UFC bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington hasn’t been one to get into trash talk, but her matchup with Julianna Peña at UFC 307 seems to have changed her tone a bit.
“I’ve asked for the fight multiple times. We know Julianna. She’s going to say 100% different, but I’ve asked for years,” Pennington told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“Somehow it’s never aligned. It is what it is.”
Pennington (16-8) defeated Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297 to become the bantamweight champion. Peña, who is a former champion, said during media day that Pennington did not represent the division well. She accused Pennington of turning down opportunities to promote herself and women’s MMA.
“We all know that Julianna has a masters degree in yappology. All she does is talk sh*t. She keeps herself relevant that way,” she said.
“To sit here and say oh I turned down embedded, how does she know anything into what I’m even doing? She just yaps and she talks. At the end of the day I’ve always been me. I stay authentic to who I am.”
Peña has turned the heat up in the talk department saying she has advantage in every part of the fight. Pennington couldn’t help but laugh.
“The way that I see it is yeah we’re the last two from The Ultimate Fighter. We’ve been here for a long time, but I’ve been the most active. I’ve fought the best of the best. I’ve done a bunch of things throughout my career,” she said.
“I can tell you, for sure, I’m here to stay. And still.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Raquel Pennington above. She defends her title against Julianna Peña at UFC 307.
