The vacant women’s bantamweight championship bout between second-ranked Raquel Pennington and third-ranked Mayra Bueno Silva served as the UFC 297 co-main event on Saturday.
Pennington entered the fight riding an impressive five-fight winning streak. Bueno Silva had her submission win over Holly Holm in her last outing turned to a no contest after testing positive for a banned substance. Prior to that win being overturned, Silva had won three in a row.
The two women met in the middle of the octagon and exchanged leg kicks. Pennington landed a body kick and worked to get the fight to the ground. Bueno Silva turned Pennington along the cage. They separated and Bueno Silva delivered a calf kick. Pennington grabs Bueno Silva’s leg but got hit in the clinch. Bueno Silva took Pennington down midway through the opening round.
Bueno Silva took Pennington’s back. Bueno Silva was forced to stand but stayed behind Pennington. She dragged Pennington to the canvas and continued to stay on her back. The opening round ended with Bueno Silva on Pennington’s back. The first round went to Bueno Silva.
Pennington landed her jab in the early going on the second round. Bueno Silva pressed forward and clinched. She delivered knees to Pennington’s legs and body. Pennington turned Bueno Silva and separated. Pennington connected with a combination. Bueno Silva clinched and landed body shots. Pennington landed a hard right hand. Bueno Silva retreated but Pennington closed the distance and clinched.
Pennington connected with a right hand and Bueno Silva responded with a right hand of her own. Bueno Silva took Pennington’s back standing. She worked to secure a rear-naked choke but Pennington defended the submission attempt. Pennington gain top position with seconds remaining. Round 2 was a close round.
Bueno Silva delivered leg kicks to start the third. She clinches and the two worked for position along the cage. Pennington delivered knees to the body. Bueno Silva tripped Pennington but Pennington quickly got to her feet. The two remained in the clinch midway through the frame.
They separated with two minutes left in the round. Bueno Silva connected with a couple of elbows. Bueno Silva looked to get the fight to the ground but Pennington gained top position. Pennington stood and let Bueno Silva up. Bueno Silva delivered punches to the body. They clinch and Pennington took Bueno Silva down. The third round went to Pennington.
Heading into the fourth, Bueno Silva looked fatigued. Pennington landed a superman punch to start the frame. Bueno Silva landed two front kicks to the body and clinched. They exchanged some dirty boxing. Bueno Silva connected with an elbow. She dragged Pennington to the canvas and took her back. She worked to secure a rear-naked choke but Pennington escaped the choke attempt. She turned into Bueno Silva and gain top position. Pennington delivered punches while Bueno Silva looked for a triangle choke. Pennington postured up and delivered a hard left hand. The fourth round was Pennington’s.
They touched gloves to start the final round. Bueno Silva clinched after some close quarters fighting. Bueno Silva goes for a leg and Pennington gained top position. Pennington locked on an arm-triangle choke. She advanced to the mount. Pennington tightens up the choke but was forced to give up on it. Bueno Silva worked her way back to fully guard with a minute left on the clock. Pennington delivered elbows before standing. She kicked Bueno Silva’s legs and that’s how the fight ended. Pennington should be the new women’s bantamweight champion.
The judges scored the fight 49–46, 49–46, 4and 9–45 for Pennington.
Raquel Pennington can finally calls herself a champion after claiming the vacant bantamweight title following a grueling, five-round win over Mayra Bueno Silva in the UFC 297 co-main event.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance but an ugly win is still a win.
Pennington survived a strong start from Bueno Silva and then just began chipping away, round after round. Using her conditioning and a relentless pace as her best weapon, Pennington never gave Bueno Silva a minute to breathe and by the time the fight ended, the Brazilian was absolutely exhausted.
The judges ultimately scored the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 49-45 with Pennington getting the win and becoming the new champion at 135 pounds.
“It feels surreal,” Pennington said afterwards. “It’s been a long five years getting back to this. I expected to come out here and do a lot more but a fight’s a fight. Mayra’s tough. I climbed mountains to get back here. Stay believing because that’s exactly what I did.”
There was no feeling out process in the title fight with Pennington looking to press the action and close the distance with Bueno Silva happy to meet her in every exchange. A clinch battle ensued but it was Bueno Silva who eventually dragged Pennington to the canvas midway through the opening round.
Bueno Silva wasted no time advancing to take the back with Pennington returning to her feet and playing defense with the Brazilian still holding onto her. Pennington defended well but she had Bueno Silva stuck to her with no chance to escape until the round ended.
It looked like Bueno Silva would continue to employ that same strategy moving forward but Pennington avoided the clinch and the takedowns enough to finally let her hands fly. Pennington connected with several nasty punches that had Bueno Silva backing up and showing signs that the damage was adding up.
Unfortunately, Pennington got too close and that allowed Bueno Silva to grab onto her before jumping on her back yet again. Bueno Silva looked for the rear-naked choke but Pennington stayed tough to resist the submission attempt.
As the fight moved into the third round, Bueno Silva started showing signs of slowing down with Pennington digging to the body with punches and then reversing half-hearted takedown attempts. Bueno Silva was fading badly and Pennington made her pay with punishing shots to the head and body as they battled it out on the ground.
Bueno Silva continued to struggle until she managed to take the back momentarily and nearly locking on a submission but Pennington showed patience until escaping. From there, Pennington peppered away with punches from the top with Bueno Silva throwing up her legs, possibly looking for an armbar or a triangle choke attempt.
None of it worked as Pennington kept breaking free then posturing up and delivering powerful punches with Bueno Silva absorbing more and more damage. Even with a minute break between rounds, Bueno Silva’s energy was so drained that she could only muster a spinning backfist before she ended up dropping to the ground again.
Pennington quickly latched onto an arm triangle choke from the top but she just couldn’t quite lock on the submission. Bueno Silva resisted just enough to prevent the finish but clearly shifted into survival mode and offering almost nothing in return.
The crowd unleashed a chorus of boos as time ran out with Pennington just chopping away at Bueno Silva’s legs as she continued to lay on the mat. It’s not likely a performance that will end up on her highlight reel but Pennington definitely did enough to earn the victory and now she’s got a UFC title to show for it.
With the win, Pennington will almost assuredly draw former champion Julianna Peña next after she suffered an injury that prevented her from competing at UFC 297 on Saturday.
“I thought it was going to be Julianna next,” Pennington said. “It’s been 10 years I’ve been waiting for that fight.”
Movsar Evloev sees gold in his future after beating Arnold Allen in a back-and-forth battle to kick off the main card at UFC 297.
The undefeated Russian had to endure some dicey moments at times but his tenacious wrestling attacks along with hurting Allen badly in the second round allowed him to get the job done. When it was over, all three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Evloev, who improved his record to 18-0 with the victory.
He’s now hoping that performance will secure him a title shot against the winner of the UFC 298 main event when featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on Ilia Topuria.
“He’s a good fighter, he’s tough,” Evloev said about Allen. “After beating this guy, I feel like I can fight with anyone in my division. I feel like I’m the next contender for the title.”
With a striking advantage, it was Allen who established a jab early in the fight as he popped Evloev several times throughout the opening round. Evloev looked to close the distance to apply his wrestling and he was finally able to drag Allen down to the canvas.
Allen consistently got back to his feet but he just couldn’t break free from Evloev’s grip and that continued to plague him over all three rounds.
On the restart in the second round, Allen kept a noticeably lower stance to prepare for Evloev eventually diving for his legs. Allen was also throwing with fire behind every punch without overextending too much and doing his best to keep Evloev off him.
With less than a minute remaining, Evloev connected with a stinging straight left that rocked Allen and put him on wobbly legs. Evloev surged ahead looking to take advantage with Arnold sporting a nasty gash under his left eye that started pouring blood.
Allen returned the favor a few moments later after he stuffed a takedown and unloaded a barrage of knees in succession that blasted Evloev in the head. Referee Marc Goddard eventually stepped in to pause the action because the knees were deemed illegal due on a downed opponent as Evloev still had his hand on the mat during the fiery exchange.
No point was deducted but Allen lost the position with Evloev allowed to restart on the feet.
The featherweights continued to battle it out with Allen throwing out an attempted ninja choke late with Evloev still grabbing onto another takedown before the final horn sounded in a high-paced battle through 15 consecutive minutes.
When it was over, Evloev did enough to edge out the victory as he continues his march up the featherweight rankings. As for Allen, he’s now dropped two fights in a row after starting his UFC career with 10 straight wins.
We will cover UFC 297’s PPV main card in a separate thread right here, beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) kicks off its 2024 pay-per-view (PPV) event season TONIGHT (Sat., Jan. 20) with a top-heavy card from inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. UFC 297’s main event will feature the bad blood battle between Middleweight roost-ruler, Sean Strickland, putting his belt on the line for the first time ever against surging 185-pound South African contender, Dricus Du Plessis. In UFC 297’s co-main event, No. 2-seeded contender, Raquel Pennington, will lock horns with trash-talking Brazilian finisher, Mayra Bueno Silva, for Amanda Nunes’ vacated women’s Bantamweight belt. We’ve got Neil Magny, Chris Curtis, Arnold Allen and so much more!
IT’S A CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE DIP!
Before that action begins at 10 p.m. ET later this evening, though, MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 “Prelims” undercard below, beginning with the first fight at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ (ESPN will simulcast the undercard action at 8 p.m. ET). We will then cover UFC 297’s PPV main card in a separate thread right here, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Bet on UFC 297 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps, and post-fight analysis following “Strickland vs. Du Plessis.” Without further delay, see below for the latest UFC 297 “Prelims” undercard results. (Note: This will go from the bottom up; therefore, scroll toward the bottom for the latest detailed round-by-round action.)
UFC 297 ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD QUICK RESULTS:
185 lbs.: UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis 135 lbs.: Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for vacant Bantamweight belt 170 lbs.: Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott 185 lbs.: Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault 145 lbs.: Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
UFC 297 ESPN+‘PRELIMS’ QUICK RESULTS:
135 lbs.: Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield 145 lbs.: Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson 135 lbs.: Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras 115 lbs.: Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana — Robertson def. Viana by TKO (punches) at 3:12 of Round Two — HIGHLIGHTS! 170 lbs.: Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson — Patterson def. Lainesse by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:03 of Round One — HIGHLIGHTS! 135 lbs.: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira — Jasudavicius def. Cachoeira by submission (d’arce choke) at 4:21 of Round Three 125 lbs.: Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick — Flick def. Gordon by submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:17 of Round Two — HIGHLIGHTS!
UFC 297 ESPN+ ‘PRELIMS’ PLAY-BY-PLAY RESULTS:
135 lbs.: Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
Round one: Round two: Round three:
Final result:
145 lbs.: Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
Round one: Round two: Round three:
Final result:
135 lbs.: Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
Round one: Early counter left from Taveras. Sidey steadily advancing. He changes levels and puts Taveras against the fence. They separate a minute in. Body kick from Sidey, low kick behind it. Nice low kick by Taveras, who eats a shovel hook and straight right. Sidey continuing to advance, pops him with a straight right and avoids a head kick. Two minutes in. Sidey tries a head kick, lands a jab, eats a heavy body shot. Gnarly counter body shot by Taveras after avoiding a blitz. Hard Sidey low kick, jab behind it. Exchanging with two minutes to go.
Sidey continuing to look for head kicks, lands a body kick. Counter body shot by Taveras. Low kick exchange, Taveras counter left. Huge counter left by Taveras, then another good left. ESPN+ crashes and we pick back up with 46 seconds to go. 1-1-2 from Taveras as he continues to circle Sidey. Both try head kicks, then Taveras rocks him hard with a two-piece before the bell. 10-9 Taveras.
Round two: Sidey absorbs a combination and shoots. No dice. Right cross from Sidey, who continues to march forward. He shoots again, denied again. Hard counter left by Taveras, who gets rocked by a right cross. Sidey pushing forward, just misses with a spearing elbow. One minute in. Looking for head kicks, flying knee goes wide. Low kick from Sidey, who misses with another flying knee. Huge 1-2 from Taveras and down goes Sidey. Sidey immediately tries to shoot, then scrambles back to his feet. Another good sprawl. Sidey pops up and lands a right hand two minutes in. Sidey storming after him as Taveras dodges most of what’s coming his way. Sidey is an absolute bloody mess but he’s still coming. Anotehr straight left by Taveras with two minutes to go.
Sidey doing everything he can to unload on Taveras against the fence. Taveras avoiding most of it, barely blocks a head kick. Knee to the body from Sidey. Taveras 1-2 falls short. One minute to go. Sidey jacks his jaw with a pair of shovel hooks. Hard straight rights. Body kick, knee, elbows, uppercuts in the clinch. One more elbow and jab before the bell. 10-9 Sidey.
Round three: Heavy 1-2 from Taveras, then a 3-2 soon after. Body kick to jab by Sidey. Check hook just misses a minute in. Hard right cross to body kick. 1-2. Taveras knocks him back with a straight left and eats a body kick for his trouble. Body kick to 3-2 by Taveras. Low kick by Sidey. Taveras straight left two minutes in. Hard two-piece by Sidey and it’s back to attacking against the fence. Knee, elbow, right cross. Head kick attempt. They pause to give Sidey his mouthpiece back. Two minutes to go.
Quick counters by Taveras. Sidey body kick, combination whiffs. Hard body kick. Low kick, then a clean flying knee that Taveras shrugs off. One minute to go. Trading jabs near the fence. Sidey body kick and counter elbow. Taveras fires some heavy artillery in the last 10 seconds, then eats a body kick at the bell. 10-9 Sidey.
Final result:
115 lbs.: Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
Round one: Both whiff with their first punches. Viana firing counters, lands a body kick. Robertson changes levels and spins her down into half guard via single-leg. One minute in. Robertson looking to isolate Viana’s left arm and set up a kimura. Straight armbar now, loses it two minutes in. Looking to pass, unable so far. Robetson pops her with a pair of elbows and uses the distraction to move to mount, then the back with two minutes to go.
Robertson quickly cinches up the arm triangle and this looks deep. Impressive defense from Viana to survive and Robertson goes back to chasing back mount. One hook in. Back to mount with a minute to go, and when Viana tries to sweep, Robertson wraps up an armbar. Viana stacks, then slams her way out. Robertson quickly scrambles to her feet. 10-9 Robetson.
Round two: Low kick from Robertson. Viana launching punching flurries. She stiff-arms Robertson away to deny the first level change. Solid left hand from Robertson, who runs the pipe for another single-leg takedown a minute in. On top in half guard. She quickly moves to the back, landing punches. Another arm triangle, no dice, elbows instead before retaking the back and flattening Viana out. Robertson piling up right hands two minutes in. Looking for the RNC, then back to elbows. Two minutes to go.
Viana covering up and Robertson just ramps up the right hands to force the stoppage.
Final result: Robertson def. Viana by TKO (punches) — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
170 lbs.: Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
Round one: Patterson keeping his distance and trying to jab. Lainesse falls short with a right hand. One minute in. Solid counters from Patterson, who eats a solid right cross. Lainesse tries to capitalize and takes him to the fence, only for Patterson to grab a front headlock and snap him down to his knees. Looking for the back, one hook in. Patterson hunting the RNC and quickly sneaks his forearm under Lainesse’s chin to force a frantic tap.
Final result: Patterson def. Lainesse by submission (rear-naked choke) — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
135 lbs.: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Round one: Cachoeira throwing heat right off the bat, clubbing Jasudavicius with a left hand. Jasudavicius changes levels, absorbing a knee but bullying Cachoeira to the mat. Cachoeira looks for a leg as Jasudavicius tries to secure a better position, ultimately settling for half guard. One minute in. Now Jasudavicius postures up and takes side control. Moving to mount and landing punches as he does. Now the back and she’s got Cachoeira flattened out as she unloads. Back to mount. Hard elbow by Jasudavicius. Posturing up to fire off a barrage of punches. Two minutes to go.
Cachoeira trying to hold Jasudavicius close and keep her from posturing but eating plenty of shots anyway. Jasudavicius just mauling her from the top. One minute to go. Continuing to methodically beat the stuffing out of Cachoeira. This continues until the bell. 10-7 Jasudavicius.
Round two: Cachoeira loading up on the right uppercut to try and scare Jasudavicius off. She lands a couple leg kicks, then gets put on her butt by a clean straight right. Jasudavicius follows her down into half guard and gets back to relentlessly punching her. One minute in. Jasudavicius quickly retakes mount. Playing tight on top. Two minutes in. Back to side control, swatting away with left hands. Not quite as consistent a barrage as in the first right. Cachoeira turns into or and Jasudavicius wraps up a d’arce. It looks deep, but she loses it with two minutes to go.
Elbows from Jasudavicius, then a much deeper d’arce. This looks airtight but Cachoeira’s not going out. She pops out with a minute to go and Jasudavicius goes back to abusing her from mount instead. She continues doing damage until the bell. 10-8 Jasudavicius.
Round three: Cachoeira looking for jabs as she plods forward. She catches Jasudavicius with an uppercut and denies the first takedown attempt. Jasudavicius circling and throwing front kicks. Nice straight right a minute in, then another. She slips and eats some solid punches. Cachoeira still wading after her and throwing. She sprawls on a shot, eats a knee. Trading punches as Jasudavicius wades into the clinch, then separates. Another good sprawl two minutes in. Jasudavicius sprints after her and gets tossed aside, eating a huge punch as she does, but powers through to drag her into side control. Right to the crucifix, dropping punches. North-south with two minutes to go.
Shin to the neck by Jasudavicius as she continues to pound away. Attacking the body now. One minute to go. Cachoeira turns and Jasudavicius wraps up the d’arce again, this time forcing a tap to end one of the most one-sided fights in recent memory.
Final result: Jasudavicius def. Cachoeira by submission (d’arce choke)
125 lbs.: Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick
Round one: Gordon coming out hot behind the jab. He catches Flick ducking with an uppercut, stops the next shot, then takes him to the fence. Flick tries a head-and-arm throw, which Gordon avoids before slamming him into side control. Flick quickly regains guard. Gordon postures up for some hard shots but opens himself up for a triangle. Flick trying to tighten it up as Gordon continues to swat him. Gordon stacking, lands a good elbow. He finally pops his head free and continues to land ground-and-pound. Flick trying to use the fence to stand, Gordon snuffs it out with two minutes to go.
Gordon continuing to pound away with punches and elbows. One minute to go. Flick just can’t get a scramble going as Gordon works him over. When he makes a bit of progress, Gordon latches onto a guillotine. It looks incredibly tight, but Flick somehow sweeps into top half guard and clamps down on a Von Flue choke. Gordon saved by the bell. 10-9 Gordon.
Round two: Low kick from Flick, combo from Gordon. Gordon pushing forward with volume, shrugging off a left hook to buzz Flick against the fence. Gordon putting it on him as Flick covers up and retreats. Just as Flick seems to be crumbling, a reactive takedown puts him on top, where he threatens the back before wrapping up an arm triangle. This one’s abominably deep and there’s the tap.
Final result: Flick def. Gordon by submission (arm-triangle choke) — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Remember: MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of UFC 297’s entire five-fight PPV main card RIGHT HERE, beginning at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV. Bet on UFC 297 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
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