When Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena were part of “The Ultimate Fighter 18” cast in 2013, it seemed as though they would be destined to meet — either on the show or shortly thereafter.
However, the two bantamweights didn’t cross paths on the show, and it took more than a decade before they were finally booked to meet within the Las Vegas-based promotion. On Saturday, Pennington will defend her 135-pound belt against Pena in the UFC 307 co-main event at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. In a recent interview with MMAjunkie.com, Pennington looked back on her interactions with Pena on “TUF 18,” where she quickly learned that their personalities didn’t mesh.
“I’m not going to sit here and say I hate Julianna. I don’t hate anybody. I don’t have all these ill emotions towards her,” Pennington said. “Did she get under my skin on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’? Absolutely. On top of being taken out of your comfort zone, you’re living with somebody, but we have very, very, very different personality types. When I first went into ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ I didn’t know anybody. I remember Julianna, they were bullying her and I felt bad for her. We ended up on the same team and we were roommates, and it was like, ‘OK, cool. I’m going to befriend you.’ I quickly learned our different personalities and it was like, ‘Uh, OK.’”
Pena would go on to win “TUF 18,” while Pennington suffered an injury. While “Rocky” admits that she has asked for a fight against Pena in the past, it didn’t come to fruition until now.
UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
“It’s just been one of those things where on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ I felt like Dana [White] thought we were going to match up on the finale and she ended up winning the season and [I got injured]. … It didn’t play out that way. I don’t know how we didn’t line up in the last 11 years,” Pennington said. “It’s a fight that I’ve asked for.”
UFC 307 will mark Pena’s first Octagon appearance since July 2022. An injury prevented her from taking part in a trilogy bout against Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 in June 2023, and “The Venezuelan Vixen” has been out of action since then. As a result, Pennington admits to spending some time preparing for Kayla Harrison in the event Pena is forced to withdraw from their booking. Harrison is slated to meet Ketlen Vieira on the UFC 307 main card.
“Honestly, I prepared for this as both Julianna and Kayla. Julianna does have a history of getting injured,” Pennington said. “I know that Kayla made the comment about wanting to be the backup fighter. This wasn’t just one fight camp that was like, ‘OK, here’s one person that we’re focusing on. I’ve broke down two athletes and prepared in two different directions.”
