Raquel Pennington bested Macy Chiasson at UFC Fight Night 199 in December 2021. This second-round guillotine choke victory in the featherweight ranks extended Rocky‘s winning streak to three.
The AllStar’s John Hyon Ko spoke with Pennington about this last win and the broad overview of this calendar year for Rocky overall.
Primetime Performance
The last victory over Chiasson was a much more comprehensive expression of Pennington’s overall skillset in her estimation.
“I feel like overall I’ve been doing a lot of work outside of the gym. Then I’ve been doing a lot of work in the gym. Just trying to get my health and everything under control. It’s been a rocky freakin’ four years. So it’s just been extremely frustrating and it’s been my main focus lately. Now I just feel better than ever mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s showing, you know?”
“The fight with Pannie (Kianzad) back in September was kind of one of those ones of like oh, this is what this feels like again. Shaking off that ring rust. Now the fight against Macy (Chiasson), it was just one of those things where I definitely feel like myself again.”
TUF 30
Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena on The Ultimate Fighter has been tapped for February filming. Though exciting for fans, it can create a level of complication for a former bantamweight title contender looking to ascend towards another crack at the crown.
“Honestly I’m still kind of processing that whole part with them being the coaches…Obviously, we know that with the coaches, they fight at the end of the season. So it aligns to what’s supposed to be happening. It’s just like okay, when is this going to be happening? Let’s get this rolling.”
As far as when Pennington may return, it seems to be a matter of seeing how the bouts at the upper tier of the divisions play out.
“It’s all recent conversation. I think right now I’m just going to hold back until one of these fights with the matchups with the girls ranked above me happens. Then see if I can get the winner from that. So we’ll see how everything plays out. But I am antsy and I do wanna fight like yesterday. So gonna get back out there soon.”
What are your thoughts on Raquel Pennington’s momentum leading into her 2022 campaign?
