Mayra Bueno Silva knows that “nobody wants to watch” her fight against Raquel Pennington as the UFC 297 co-headliner on January 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Nonetheless, the female fighter assured fans that it would be different in the actual scene.
Bueno Silva and Pennington will fight for the vacant women’s bantamweight title, thanks to the retirement of Amanda Nunes. Nonetheless, Bueno Silva is aware that their fight is not making much noise, pushing her to believe it might not attract much audience.
“On paper, it’s not a good fight because nobody wants to watch this fight – I know,” Bueno Silva admitted on Middle Easy. “This fight on paper is no good.”
The sentiment is not new, with Bueno Silva admitting that the opponent is not much of a talker, which could help them promote the fight. In November, Julianna Peña called the fight a “horrible interim title fight” being force-fed to the fans, adding that she preferred Bueno Silva over Pennington as the former is a “dance partner” who’s “got a mouth.” Bueno Silva affirmed this, saying a fight with Peña is better as the fighter could help her promote the fight.
Despite this, Bueno Silva knows that Pennington is a better opponent than Peña in the actual fight, explaining that the No. 2-ranked fighter is not a talker but a doer.
“Raquel is more tough than Julianna,” Bueno Silva said. “Julianna is easy money. … I think she’s tough. She has good boxing, but doesn’t have good jiu-jitsu or a good takedown. I think I’m better than her in everything, but she’s tough. It’s hard to hurt her.”
