Salt Lake City — Strawweight Tecia Pennington was met with a thunderous storm of boos when the scores were announced in her fight with Carla Esparza at UFC 307 on Saturday.
Maybe it was due to Esparza retiring in the fight, a former two-time champ at 115lbs in the UFC, and title holder in Invicta (in both promotions, in fact, she was the inaugural strawweight champion). Maybe it was the flurry of action from Esparza at the end of the third, which saw her earn a late takedown and drop some smashing elbows.
Still, Pennington was confident when the scorecards were read. At least initially.
“Honestly I was. I was confident until, when they said 30-27, that’s when I got worried. Because I was like, I saw it 29-28,” Pennington (14-7) told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Delta Center. “I’m just being honest, I don’t meant to be like, oh, whatever. I saw her winning the first [round], and me winning the last two. So I thought I had it, confident again. When they said 30-27, I was like mother— did they do it to me again? But then they called my name, so I was happy.”
Pennington, a.k.a. “The Tiny Tornado,” wasn’t sure exactly why the crowd reacted the way it did, suggesting it might have been due to Esparza getting a late takedown at the end of the third.
“The crowd, whatever, I’m sorry. If you said ‘boo,’ like boo-hoo to you I guess,” she stated. “It’s [the scorecards] finally on my side, so I’m happy.”
Pennington was more than game for the striking exchanges in the fight, though it certainly wasn’t a case of fireworks from bell to bell.
“The few times she did exchange with me, I was like ‘man let’s go!’ But she’s not into doing that, so I did what I needed to do to win.”
As to where a win over Esparza, given her pedigree, leaves Tecia Pennington, “I think I should be number nine or ten,” she suggested. “Again, I’ve been in the sport a long time. I don’t need to say I’m number five in the world. I think I deserve to be like number nine or ten, in the top ten, fighting a top ten opponent my next fight. I’d love to fight another striker, that would be awesome, so we can just bang in there, I’m down to do that.”
Watch the full UFC 307 post-fight press conference appearance by Tecia Pennington above.
