Bantamweights Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau fought high up on UFC’s “Fight Night” card on Saturday. Here’s the play-by-play of their matchup.
Bout 10: Raquel Pennington (10-8) vs. Marion Reneau (9-5-1) (Bantamweight)
Pennington was aggressive from the start, moving forward with strikes. Pennington clinched up with Reneau for a large portion of the round. Reneau was able to get on the feet of Pennington while still on the feet. She landed some punches from the position before the round ended.
A pause came early in the second round as Pennington took a knee to the groin. They continued after a short break. They fought against the fence for a while. Reneau got a takedown with two minutes left in the round. Pennington was able to escape and take top position, standing while Reneau was on her back. Reneau got to the feet but was hit with punches on the way up. They clinched up against the cage, where both fighters landed hard elbows and knees. Pennington tried for a takedown near the end, failing to do so.
Reneau got Pennington to her knees at the start of the final round, trying for a takedown. Back in stand-up, Pennington landing punches and elbows. With two minutes to go, Pennington failed for a takedown after landing a series of punches. Reneau had a takedown stopped in the final minute. Pennington scored with elbows and knees to the body as the round ran out of time. Despite differing scorecards, all three judges gave the fight to Pennington (30-27, 29-28 & 29-28)
RESULT: Raquel Pennington def. Marion Reneau via Decision, Unanimous
My Scorecard:
Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
Pennington | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
Reneau | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |