Peña re-captures gold, defeats Pennington in Utah

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

UFC fighter Julianna Peña is now the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Peña defeated Raquel Pennington by split decision at UFC 307 on Saturday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 35-year-old is now a champion for the second time in her career. This was her first fight in more than two years.

The judges had the fight 48-47, 47-48, and 48-47 on their scorecards.

Peña last fought before this bout in a loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 on July 30th, 2022 when she lost by unanimous decision. She previously won the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship over Nunes on December 11th, 2021.

In her career, Peña is now 12-5. This was just her fourth decision win. However, this was the first time in her career that she had fought in a split decision.

Pennington fell to 16-9 with the loss. This was Pennington’s first loss in the UFC since a loss to Holly Holm at UFC 246 on January 18th, 2020.

Now, she has lPeñaost seven of her nine bouts by decision. It was her first split decision loss since UFC 184 when she lost to Holm on February 28th, 2015.

Before this bought, Pennington had won six straight bouts. She won the vacant UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in January 2024, when she defeated Mayra Bueno Silva by unanimous decision at UFC 297.