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Raquel Pennington
Women's Bantamweight · “Rocky”

Raquel Pennington

16-9-0 UFC 13-6-0
Durable Precision Striker
5'7"Height
67"Reach
OrthodoxStance
38Age
0KO wins
3Sub wins
23.1%Finish rate
15:17Avg fight

Skill profile

Rated 0–100 · where 138 MMA has read him, his grades and tags set each axis and the stats only nudge inside his band · stats alone where he is silent · the rim is reserved for specialists
Striking — Average, rated 50 of 100 · 138 MMA: striking good · Oct 2024 · stats read 47 → nudged -4 inside the band · tag ko power: low (-6) · claims striking technique +1, kicking +1, pressure +1 (+3) Accuracy — Above avg, rated 75 of 100 · claims striking technique +1, counter striking +1 (+3) Striking D — Average, rated 65 of 100 · claims striking defense +1 (+3) Durability — Above avg, rated 80 of 100 · 138 MMA tag chin: durable · Oct 2024 · stats read 80 → nudged +2 inside the band · claims chin +2 (+4) Wrestling — Average, rated 57 of 100 · 138 MMA: wrestling good · Oct 2024 · stats read 48 → nudged -3 inside the band · claims clinch +3 (+3) TD Defense — Average, rated 54 of 100 · 138 MMA: wrestling good (no takedown-defence tag), half-weighted with the stats read 51 Grappling — Above avg, rated 75 of 100 · stats only — nothing in his reads bears on this axis Control — Average, rated 68 of 100 · claims top control +1 (+4) Striking Accuracy Striking D Durability Wrestling TD Defense Grappling Control
striking good
3 analyst reads graded this phase
  • good UFC 307 Full Card Analysis, Prediction & Breakdown · October 2, 2024 watch ↗
  • good UFC 297 Full Card Breakdown, Analysis, & Prediction · January 16, 2024 watch ↗
  • solid UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs Imavov Full Card Analysis, Preview, and Prediction (UFC Vegas 67) · January 9, 2023 watch ↗
grappling not yet read
wrestling good
2 analyst reads graded this phase
  • good UFC 307 Full Card Analysis, Prediction & Breakdown · October 2, 2024 watch ↗
  • good UFC 297 Full Card Breakdown, Analysis, & Prediction · January 16, 2024 watch ↗
cardio not yet read
durability not yet read
striking good 3 reads
grappling not yet read
wrestling good 2 reads
cardio not yet read
durability not yet read

138 MMA anchors Striking, Durability, Wrestling · his tags and claims adjust Accuracy, Striking D, TD Defense, Control · stats alone on Grappling.

Durable above avg durability — rates 80 of 100 · 138 MMA tag chin: durable · Oct 2024
Precision Striker above avg accuracy — rates 75 of 100 · claims striking technique +1, counter striking +1 (+3)
Career rates — the raw numbers behind the chart
Sig. strikes landed / min4.1
Sig. strikes absorbed / min3.32
Striking accuracy49.2%
Striking defense61.1%
Knockdowns / 15 min0.05
Takedowns / 15 min0.83
Takedown accuracy27.6%
Takedown defense62.5%
Sub attempts / 15 min0.62
Control time22.8%
Record vs .500+ opponents10-3

Insider info

3 analyst reads · 138 MMA · our paraphrase, never his words
vs Julianna Peña lean UFC 307 Full Card Analysis, Prediction & Breakdown · October 2, 2024
strikinggood wrestlinggood

TITLE FIGHT, re-verified rather than taken as clean on the strength of a plain name: Pennington is named outright in cleanly-tagged segments ('I'm gonna take Pennington'), and that support (her cage wrestling, cage push, and dirty boxing) is drawn only from correctly-tagged material -- none of it leans on the earlier mistagged background segments (see review_flags). The grade sits at lean rather than clear because the analyst calls it a close fight he can't bring himself to bet, and frames his own pick as conditional on Pennington actually landing her cage-control gameplan.

Credited with having transformed from a middle-of-the-pack fighter into a champion who now dictates where her fights happen, on a five-fight unbeaten run. Her path here runs through good forward striking (working the jab into body work) and, especially, cage wrestling -- her cage push and dirty boxing are called the best in the division. She is also noted as tough. No specific technical weakness is named for her in this chapter.

Strengthgood forward striker who works the jab into the body
Strengthcage wrestling, cage push and dirty boxing called the best in the division
Strengthtough, durable
chin · durable
vs Mayra Bueno Silva lean UFC 297 Full Card Breakdown, Analysis, & Prediction · January 16, 2024 · 1 read since
strikinggood wrestlinggood

He states directly that he is not very confident and would not personally wager on it, then reaches for the root-beer idiom, which per the confidence-bar rule caps conviction even though he does give real reasoning (durability, cardio, expecting her to take over as the fight progresses).

Raquel Pennington is framed as a good, pressuring boxer built around dirty boxing and cage control, with good step-in knees specifically highlighted as a tool against a fading, clinging opponent late in a fight, backed by exceptional durability -- the analyst cannot recall the last time she was finished.

StrengthGood boxing: forward pressure, body work, combinations with uppercuts and hooks in the pocket
StrengthGood step-in knee, highlighted as especially effective against a tiring, clinging opponent
StrengthGood wrestling: good cage push, good dirty boxing, good control, strikes on separation
StrengthExceptional durability -- analyst cannot recall her last finish loss
vs Ketlen Vieira lean UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs Imavov Full Card Analysis, Preview, and Prediction (UFC Vegas 67) · January 9, 2023 · 2 reads since
strikingsolid

He names Pennington as the pick but repeats that he is 'not super confident in it' -- an explicit self-rated low confidence -- even though the exploit he cites (cage-holding Vieira) is a specific, named mechanism rather than a bare guess.

A cage-pressure fighter whose best path to victory is pressing an opponent against the cage and working dirty boxing for a decision; she has solid boxing at range and good striking defense, but the analyst says she has very low finishing upside.

Strengthcage pressure with dirty boxing -- her best path to victory
Strengthsolid boxing at range
Strengthgood striking defense, keeps hands up
Weaknessvery low finishing upside -- unlikely to get the finish
ko power · low

Striking trend

Sig. strikes/min, last 8 fights · green = win
January 18, 2020 vs Holly Holm — 2.53/min (L) Jan '20 June 20, 2020 vs Marion Reneau — 7.13/min (W) Jun '20 September 18, 2021 vs Pannie Kianzad — 3.2/min (W) Sep '21 December 18, 2021 vs Macy Chiasson — 5.54/min (W) Dec '21 April 9, 2022 vs Aspen Ladd — 7.6/min (W) Apr '22 January 14, 2023 vs Ketlen Vieira — 5.4/min (W) Jan '23 January 20, 2024 vs Mayra Bueno Silva — 5.36/min (W) Jan '24 October 5, 2024 vs Julianna Pena — 3.68/min (L) Oct '24

Fight history

19 UFC bouts · newest first · opponent records as of fight night
L Julianna Pena 11-5 walk-in TITLE Decision - Split · R5 5:00 — UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. · October 5, 2024
92/317Sig. strikes
92/260Absorbed
0/0Takedowns
0:33Control
1Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Mayra Bueno Silva 10-2-1 walk-in TITLE Decision - Unanimous · R5 5:00 — UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis · January 20, 2024
134/201Sig. strikes
69/88Absorbed
1/3Takedowns
11:28Control
0Knockdowns
2Sub attempts
W Ketlen Vieira 13-2 walk-in Decision - Split · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov · January 14, 2023
81/159Sig. strikes
64/152Absorbed
0/2Takedowns
1:18Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Aspen Ladd 9-2 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie · April 9, 2022
114/195Sig. strikes
65/160Absorbed
0/1Takedowns
1:42Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Macy Chiasson 7-1 walk-in Submission · R2 3:07 — UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus · December 18, 2021
45/79Sig. strikes
26/86Absorbed
0/0Takedowns
1:09Control
0Knockdowns
1Sub attempts
W Pannie Kianzad 15-5 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann · September 18, 2021
48/79Sig. strikes
50/98Absorbed
1/3Takedowns
6:16Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Marion Reneau 9-5-1 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov · June 20, 2020
107/154Sig. strikes
46/117Absorbed
1/2Takedowns
5:29Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
L Holly Holm 12-5 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cowboy · January 18, 2020
38/78Sig. strikes
30/62Absorbed
1/2Takedowns
1:02Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Irene Aldana 9-4 walk-in Decision - Split · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards · July 20, 2019
47/137Sig. strikes
52/184Absorbed
1/6Takedowns
5:29Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
L Germaine de Randamie 7-3 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC Fight Night: Korean Zombie vs. Rodriguez · November 10, 2018
24/84Sig. strikes
42/107Absorbed
0/8Takedowns
6:05Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
L Amanda Nunes 15-4 walk-in TITLE KO/TKO · R5 2:36 — UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington · May 12, 2018
64/169Sig. strikes
124/254Absorbed
1/8Takedowns
2:13Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Miesha Tate 16-6 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC 205: Alvarez vs McGregor · November 12, 2016
43/77Sig. strikes
21/65Absorbed
1/1Takedowns
6:47Control
0Knockdowns
3Sub attempts
W Elizabeth Phillips 5-3 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 · August 20, 2016
33/50Sig. strikes
15/34Absorbed
3/5Takedowns
5:05Control
0Knockdowns
1Sub attempts
W Bethe Correia 9-1 walk-in Decision - Split · R3 5:00 — UFC on FOX: Teixeira vs Evans · April 16, 2016
75/130Sig. strikes
66/171Absorbed
0/4Takedowns
1:03Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Jessica Andrade 13-4 walk-in Submission · R2 4:58 — UFC 191: Johnson vs Dodson 2 · September 5, 2015
41/68Sig. strikes
41/66Absorbed
2/2Takedowns
3:05Control
0Knockdowns
1Sub attempts
L Holly Holm 7-0 walk-in Decision - Split · R3 5:00 — UFC 184: Rousey vs Zingano · February 28, 2015
40/139Sig. strikes
44/210Absorbed
0/5Takedowns
0:15Control
0Knockdowns
0Sub attempts
W Ashlee Evans-Smith 3-0 walk-in Submission · R1 4:59 — UFC 181: Hendricks vs Lawler II · December 6, 2014
5/10Sig. strikes
11/16Absorbed
1/2Takedowns
1:22Control
0Knockdowns
1Sub attempts
L Jessica Andrade 10-3 walk-in Decision - Split · R3 5:00 — UFC 171: Hendricks vs Lawler · March 15, 2014
82/167Sig. strikes
66/158Absorbed
2/3Takedowns
1:20Control
0Knockdowns
2Sub attempts
W Roxanne Modafferi 15-10 walk-in Decision - Unanimous · R3 5:00 — The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate Finale · November 30, 2013
80/133Sig. strikes
42/194Absorbed
1/1Takedowns
4:40Control
0Knockdowns
1Sub attempts

Walk-in records count UFC bouts in this database. For the pre-UFC career, see the record breakdown below or the Tapology button up top.

Record breakdown

Full pro career (Wikipedia, results only)
16-9-0Pro record
Altitude MMAGym / team

Wins by method

KO/TKO 1
Submission 4
Decision 11
Other 0

Losses by method

KO/TKO 1
Submission 1
Decision 7
Other 0

Fights by organization

UFC 19
Invicta FC 3
Destiny MMA 1
Rocky Mountain Bad Boyz 1
Medieval Fight Productions 1
Full career — 25 fights, every organization
OpponentMethodEventOrg RdTime
L Julianna Peña Decision (split) UFC 307
October 5, 2024
UFC 5 5:00
W Mayra Bueno Silva Decision (unanimous) UFC 297
January 20, 2024
UFC 5 5:00
W Ketlen Vieira Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov
January 14, 2023
UFC 3 5:00
W Aspen Ladd Decision (unanimous) UFC 273
April 9, 2022
UFC 3 5:00
W Macy Chiasson Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus
December 18, 2021
UFC 2 3:07
W Pannie Kianzad Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann
September 18, 2021
UFC 3 5:00
W Marion Reneau Decision (unanimous) UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov
June 20, 2020
UFC 3 5:00
L Holly Holm Decision (unanimous) UFC 246
January 18, 2020
UFC 3 5:00
W Irene Aldana Decision (split) UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards
July 20, 2019
UFC 3 5:00
L Germaine de Randamie Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: The Korean Zombie vs. Rodríguez
November 10, 2018
UFC 3 5:00
L Amanda Nunes TKO (punches) UFC 224
May 12, 2018
UFC 5 2:36
W Miesha Tate Decision (unanimous) UFC 205
November 12, 2016
UFC 3 5:00
W Elizabeth Phillips Decision (unanimous) UFC 202
August 20, 2016
UFC 3 5:00
W Bethe Correia Decision (split) UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans
April 16, 2016
UFC 3 5:00
W Jéssica Andrade Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 191
September 5, 2015
UFC 2 4:58
L Holly Holm Decision (split) UFC 184
February 28, 2015
UFC 3 5:00
W Ashlee Evans-Smith Technical Submission (bulldog choke) UFC 181
December 6, 2014
UFC 1 4:59
L Jéssica Andrade Decision (split) UFC 171
March 15, 2014
UFC 3 5:00
W Roxanne Modafferi Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate Finale
November 30, 2013
UFC 3 5:00
L Leslie Smith Decision (unanimous) Invicta FC 4
January 5, 2013
Invicta FC 3 5:00
L Cat Zingano Submission (rear-naked choke) Invicta FC 3
October 6, 2012
Invicta FC 2 3:32
W Raquel Pa'aluhi Submission (guillotine choke) Destiny MMA: Na Koa 1
September 8, 2012
Destiny MMA 1 3:52
W Sarah Moras Decision (unanimous) Invicta FC 2
July 28, 2012
Invicta FC 3 5:00
L Tori Adams Decision (unanimous) Rocky Mountain Bad Boyz: A Champion's Quest
June 22, 2012
Rocky Mountain Bad Boyz 3 5:00
W Kim Couture TKO (knees to the body) Medieval Fight Productions: Vengeance
March 13, 2012
Medieval Fight Productions 2 2:25

Career history from the fighter's Wikipedia record table (Raquel Pennington) — results only, no strike stats; UFC bouts are marked and carry full stats in the fight history above.

Division context

vs. 38 qualified Women's Bantamweight fighters · tick = division mean
Striking volume /min 4.1 avg 3.8
Strikes absorbed /min 3.3 avg 3.8
Striking accuracy 49.2% avg 46.9%
Striking defense 61.1% avg 54.0%
Takedowns /15 min 0.8 avg 1.1
Takedown accuracy 27.6% avg 37.6%
Takedown defense 62.5% avg 61.0%
Sub attempts /15 min 0.6 avg 0.4
Control time 22.8% avg 22.9%
Finish rate 23.1% avg 40.6%

Headshot of Raquel Pennington by NATHANIEL GARCIA PHOTOGRAPHY · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · cropped and resized

Hero photo of Raquel Pennington by NATHANIEL GARCIA PHOTOGRAPHY · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized