SAN ANTONIO – Raquel Pennington had a strong start and finish to her matchup with Irene Aldana on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 4, and the former UFC title challenger snapped a two-fight skid.
Pennington’s (10-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC)movement and hand speed were her biggest weapons in the octagon, but Aldana’s (10-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) output and diversity of offense was effective, as well. It went down to the wire, and ultimately Pennington’s work was deemed more worthy of the split decision nod.
The women’s bantamweight matchup was part of the prelims at UFC on ESPN 4, which took place at AT&T Center in San Antonio and aired on ESPN.
After a pair of rough losses to champion Amanda Nunes and former titleholder Germaine de Randamie, Pennington took eight months off. She looked sharp to start the fight, landing nice punches on her opponent. Aldana got more of a read on “Rocky” as time wore on, though, and the momentum of the fight took a turn.
Pennington had plenty of shining moments over the 15-minute affair – even opening a cut on Aldana’s cheek – but it was her grappling in the third round that made the difference. She controlled a grappling exchange for the majority of the final frame, which racked up enough points to give her the win by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28.
It was Pennington’s first victory since November 2016, and with injury and both personal and professional losses coming during that timeframe, she said it was a relief to get her hand raised.
“I feel pretty good,” Pennington said in her post-fight interview. “This camp has been a challenge. I’ve found it hard to come back, so to get this W means a lot to me and I’m just proving stuff to myself.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 4 results include:
- Raquel Pennington def. Irene Aldana via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Klidson Abreu def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jennifer Maia def. Roxanne Modafferi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ray Borg def. Gabriel Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mario Bautista def. Jin Soo Son via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Felipe Colares def. Domingo Pilarte via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN 4, check out the UFC Results.
