Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva UFC 297 Live Blog, Updates
Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva clashed in the co-main event of UFC 297 PPV over the vacant UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship.
The title was vacated by Amanda Nunes upon her retirement after UFC 289. Pennington and Sliva are the #2 and #3 ranked fighters on UFC rankings for women’s bantamweight division. Pennington has earned this status with her 5-fight winning streak. Bueno Silva is also 5-2 in UFC with 3 wins in a row. Whose streak ended here and who was the new champion? Join us below as we post live updates from the fight below.
Live Updates
Round 1: Pennington starts the action, but Silva gets her strikes quickly. Kicks and shots from both sides. Silva’s calf kicks proving to be the difference now. Silva hits knees to the body before pushing Pennington to the cage. She gets a takedown and tries to take a choke from the back. Slowly, Silva gets into a position for a choke. Pennington is calm and not letting her go much ahead. The tussle continues for a while. Silva tries to step up with punches from behind in the last 30 seconds of the round.
Round 2: Pennington starts on the aggressive again with punches, trying to counter Silva’s taking control again. Silva manages to push her against the cage once again. Pennington turns her onto the cage after a while and tries to trip her. Pennington lands quick punches as they get away from the walls. Silva stops the momentum by putting her to the cage again. She lands some body shots before they get back to the middle. Pennington fires some good punches to push Silva to the cage. Silva once again gets the control when get to a clinch near the cage. Silva takes her back and goes for a choke. Pennington manages to her to the ground as the round ends.
Round 3: They get into a clinch after a quick exchange and get near the cage once again. Raquel keeps hitting knees to midsection as they continue to be in the clinch. Silva is also hitting knees as the control of the clinch changes multiple times. Silva lands an elbow. Pennington hits some punches as they break out. Pennington attempts a front choke but Silva went down to the mat to defend. Pennington breaks it and stands up, but Silva is not coming up. They get back into a clinch before Silva lands a few elbows. Pennington gets in a guard and keep landing her shots in between
Round 4: Pennington is looking in better condition as the round starts. Silva gets into a clinch but Pennington pushes her to the cage. Pennington hits uppercuts in the clinch. Silva breaks up and lands an elbow but gets hit in return. Silva tries to get back and kicks Pennington’s leg to get her down. Silva attempts a choke. Pennington turns it around to counter. Silva attacks her arm while she keeping hitting her elbows. Pennington hits hammer fists. Silva tries to get in a triangle position, but fails to lock up. Silva keeps attempting for a submission as she is gassed out.
Round 5: Pennington tries to get her shots going. Silva gets in the clinch again. This fight will be very awkward to score, but Pennington is making her case better to be declared the winner. Pennington gets a choke on at the two-minute mark with Silva flat on her back. The referee checks on Silva, who gives him a thumbs up. Pennington keeps control for the rest of the round, but the referee has to tell them to increase some action. Pennington gets up with few seconds to go and lands a few more strikes.
Official Decision: Raquel Pennington won via unanimous decision(49-46, 49-46, 49-45).
