Pennington sounding just like Esparza

[Nabs]

“In my mind, it’s Julianna Pena (next) because it makes sense. It’s tough because UFC does business how they want to do it, obviously, you have Kayla Harrison who just signed with the UFC. They have a habit of when someone has a big name they like to fast-track them so I wouldn’t be surprised if after UFC 300 next month if Kayla wins, the phone call is a lot different.” Pennington said.

Just like Esparza who initially tried to dodge fighting Weili for her first defense, Raquel knows that she has a better chance at keeping the belt a little longer by fighting Peña.

'Not fair'... Raquel Pennington takes aim at UFC as newcomer could earn surprise shot at her title

Current UFC women's bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington, has given her opinion on the potential of Kayla Harrison being fast-tracked to a UFC title fight.

bloodyelbow.com

 

[xhaydenx]

So, what are you saying? That she should fight the girl with no wins in the division and who is coming off an underwhelming decision win over . . . Aspen Ladd?

Pena is in her actual division. Kayla hasn't even fought yet, and has a fight lined up that she might even lose. Also, Kayla's best wins are literally over UFC washouts. Her best win is Larissa, who got finished twice in the UFC, cut, and then went off to PFL and, other than Kayla and Mokh, has only fought cans.

 

[Nabs]

So, what are you saying? That she should fight the girl with no wins in the division and who is coming off an underwhelming decision win over . . . Aspen Ladd?

Pena is in her actual division. Kayla hasn't even fought yet, and has a fight lined up that she might even lose. Also, Kayla's best wins are literally over UFC washouts. Her best win is Larissa, who got finished twice in the UFC, cut, and then went off to PFL and, other than Kayla and Mokh, has only fought cans.

Not saying that she's wrong. Just saying that she knows that fighting Kayla means that there's a greater chance she won't have a successful title defense.

Esparza wasn't wrong either when she thought Weili didn't deserve the shot at the time. Still didn't change the fact that she knew she'd get totally owned.

 

[xhaydenx]

Not saying that she's wrong. Just saying that she knows that fighting Kayla means that there's a greater chance she won't have a successful title defense.

Esparza wasn't wrong either when she thought Weili didn't deserve the shot at the time. Still didn't change the fact that she knew she'd get totally owned.

Yes, but what makes Kayla a way harder fight than Pena?

Kayla didn't look that good against Ladd at 150 or Larissa at 155.

Ladd is crap, and Larissa can't really wrestle well and still managed to survive and wear Kayla out.

And 155 is Kayla's natural weight class.

And now you expect her to drop down a whole 2 divisions and somehow be some beast in the UFC that everyone is afraid of? You don't think she's going to be drained as fuck and worse than usual?

If I was Champington, I'd honestly rather fight Kayla instead of Pena. Pena isn't all that skilled, but she wears girls down badly. At LW it would be a different story, but at FW I think Pena and Champington would both beat Kayla.

I mean, do you think either of them would struggle against Ladd at BW? No. They'd wreck her. Kayla didn't look good against her and that was with Ladd moving up. Kayla moving down isn't going to have that strength or cardio.

She's lucky she's fighting an old, washed Holly, because Prime Holly would have beat Kayla everywhere at BW, including the grappling.

 

[Nabs]

Yes, but what makes Kayla a way harder fight than Pena?

Kayla didn't look that good against Ladd at 150 or Larissa at 155.

Ladd is crap, and Larissa can't really wrestle well and still managed to survive and wear Kayla out.

And 155 is Kayla's natural weight class.

And now you expect her to drop down a whole 2 divisions and somehow be some beast in the UFC that everyone is afraid of? You don't think she's going to be drained as fuck and worse than usual?

If I was Champington, I'd honestly rather fight Kayla instead of Pena. Pena isn't all that skilled, but she wears girls down badly. At LW it would be a different story, but at FW I think Pena and Champington would both beat Kayla.

I mean, do you think either of them would struggle against Ladd at BW? No. They'd wreck her. Kayla didn't look good against her and that was with Ladd moving up. Kayla moving down isn't going to have that strength or cardio.

She's lucky she's fighting an old, washed Holly, because Prime Holly would have beat Kayla everywhere at BW, including the grappling.

You might be right. Didn't watch her last fight against Ladd. If she really struggled with her, she might not fare well in the UFC.

And with her dropping to 45, she might not even have enough energy to grapple w Holly. I'm interested to see how she shows up.

 

[xhaydenx]

You might be right. Didn't watch her last fight against Ladd. If she really struggled with her, she might not fare well in the UFC.

And with her dropping to 45, she might not even have enough energy to grapple w Holly. I'm interested to see how she shows up.

She won 30-27, but it was one of those performances that just didn't impress, especially considering Ladd was moving up and isn't all that good. Also, Ladd was the one in there on short notice for that fight, which makes it even less impressive.

I think she'll still have enough energy to grapple with Holly, but unless she's absolutely mastered this weight cut and can somehow keep her mass, muscles and strength, then even washed Holly is going to give trouble. Like, Kayla at 155 is a fucking unit, and that's how she's looked dominant against the lower cans at PFL. Against the better girls like Ladd, Mohk, and Larissa, she hasn't been anywhere near as dominant or gotten finishes, and one of them beat her.

Holly's best skill isn't even her striking, it's her clinch grappling. It always has been. People just get fixated on her boxing background. In her prime she was the best clinch grappling WMMA has ever had, and by an enormous margin. She's still decent at it now. Go ask Yana or Pennington. She held them against the cage like they were children for the entire fight. Almost won 3 rounds against Cyborg easily with that approach as well, but kept disengaging for no apparent reason and lost lol.

I think Kayla has a good chance of winning still, but only because Holly is well past it. She's flat footed and slowed right down within 2.5 rounds in her last 2 fights before Mayra. The Holly that danced around Irene for 5 rounds and was barely breathing by the end of it is long gone. That was 4 years ago and she's old as dirt at 42 now.

Prime Holly would have shown dominated Kayla though.

 

[Danespina]

The way you've interpreted Raquel's words into a negative makes me think you didn't like her in the first place.

 

[BigTruck]

You might be right. Didn't watch her last fight against Ladd. If she really struggled with her, she might not fare well in the UFC.

And with her dropping to 45, she might not even have enough energy to grapple w Holly. I'm interested to see how she shows up.

She's dropping to 135 not 45.

Ts you make no sense bc she never said she didn't want to fight her at all from what you posted, she literally just said pena makes the most sense but wouldn't be surprised if Kayla is next bc that's what the ufc wants.

 

[samuelsoncast]

Such an underwhelming division.
Your thread is fine TS but needing to hype up these three in a triangle of title contention for MMA elite is sad.

 

[Nabs]

The way you've interpreted Raquel's words into a negative makes me think you didn't like her in the first place.

Not a fan of her as a fighter at all. She does seem like a sweet person outside the cage though.

All I stated was a fact. Carla Esparza sounded just the same when it came to fighting Weili.

 

[Nabs]

She's dropping to 135 not 45.

Ts you make no sense bc she never said she didn't want to fight her at all from what you posted, she literally just said pena makes the most sense but wouldn't be surprised if Kayla is next bc that's what the ufc wants.

35, you're correct.

All I said was that Esparza sounded the same when it came to fighting Weili. Never said she wouldn't fight her, but wanted to fight somebody else who happened to be an easier fight on paper. That's all.

 

[Kenny Powerth]

Tbh I forgot already she was champ and I actually watch most of the WMMA fights

 

[blaseblase]

“In my mind, it’s Julianna Pena (next) because it makes sense. It’s tough because UFC does business how they want to do it, obviously, you have Kayla Harrison who just signed with the UFC. They have a habit of when someone has a big name they like to fast-track them so I wouldn’t be surprised if after UFC 300 next month if Kayla wins, the phone call is a lot different.” Pennington said.

Just like Esparza who initially tried to dodge fighting Weili for her first defense, Raquel knows that she has a better chance at keeping the belt a little longer by fighting Peña.

'Not fair'... Raquel Pennington takes aim at UFC as newcomer could earn surprise shot at her title

Current UFC women's bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington, has given her opinion on the potential of Kayla Harrison being fast-tracked to a UFC title fight.

bloodyelbow.com

Who is she dodging? You failed to mention a name.

 

[sonhow]

Yes, but what makes Kayla a way harder fight than Pena?

Kayla didn't look that good against Ladd at 150 or Larissa at 155.

Ladd is crap, and Larissa can't really wrestle well and still managed to survive and wear Kayla out.

And 155 is Kayla's natural weight class.

And now you expect her to drop down a whole 2 divisions and somehow be some beast in the UFC that everyone is afraid of? You don't think she's going to be drained as fuck and worse than usual?

If I was Champington, I'd honestly rather fight Kayla instead of Pena. Pena isn't all that skilled, but she wears girls down badly. At LW it would be a different story, but at FW I think Pena and Champington would both beat Kayla.

I mean, do you think either of them would struggle against Ladd at BW? No. They'd wreck her. Kayla didn't look good against her and that was with Ladd moving up. Kayla moving down isn't going to have that strength or cardio.

She's lucky she's fighting an old, washed Holly, because Prime Holly would have beat Kayla everywhere at BW, including the grappling.

Pennington beat Ladd by 29-28 decsion. Seems like a close fight based on that result.

 

[xhaydenx]

Pennington beat Ladd by 29-28 decsion. Seems like a close fight based on that result.

Yeh, that was a few fights ago now, and Ladd just seems to be continually falling off.

She also wins round 3 most of the time. I'd have to rewatch it, but I think I remember her even coming back against Kayla and starting to finally have success in that third as well.

 

[sonhow]

Yeh, that was a few fights ago now, and Ladd just seems to be continually falling off.

She also wins round 3 most of the time. I'd have to rewatch it, but I think I remember her even coming back against Kayla and starting to finally have success in that third as well.

I actually like Ladd but agree that she just seems to get worse. I guess it might be in her coaching but dunno. Seems some people get offended when it gets mentioned but something seems very wrong about her.

 

[welcometohavoc]

“In my mind, it’s Julianna Pena (next) because it makes sense. It’s tough because UFC does business how they want to do it, obviously, you have Kayla Harrison who just signed with the UFC. They have a habit of when someone has a big name they like to fast-track them so I wouldn’t be surprised if after UFC 300 next month if Kayla wins, the phone call is a lot different.” Pennington said.

Just like Esparza who initially tried to dodge fighting Weili for her first defense, Raquel knows that she has a better chance at keeping the belt a little longer by fighting Peña.

'Not fair'... Raquel Pennington takes aim at UFC as newcomer could earn surprise shot at her title

Current UFC women's bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington, has given her opinion on the potential of Kayla Harrison being fast-tracked to a UFC title fight.

bloodyelbow.com

I'll be honest, I forgot Pennington was even champion.

Crazy to think the division of Ronda and Nunes now has Raquel Pennington for a champion

 

[xhaydenx]

I actually like Ladd but agree that she just seems to get worse. I guess it might be in her coaching but dunno. Seems some people get offended when it gets mentioned but something seems very wrong about her.

I just don't know if her heart is really in it.

Looked great when she was fighting cans despite some weight issues here and there, but then as soon as she started fighting the better fighters she just became way more hesitant + had more weight issues. The hesitancy might have come from going from always being dominant to suddenly getting sparked out in 15 secs by GDR though.