Mayra Bueno Silva is vocal about her preference for Julianna Peña over her actual UFC 297 opponent, Raquel Pennington. The Brazilian believes the fight with the former women’s bantamweight champ was originally the promotion intended. However, Pennington thinks it is the opposite and that she’s the one Peña should be facing.
Pennington and Bueno Silva will be fighting for the vacant women’s bantamweight title at UFC 297 this weekend. The belt was left without an owner after Amanda Nunes retired. As a former champ, nonetheless, Peña believes the fight between Bueno Silva and Pennington is just a way for the promotion to keep the belt “warm” until she returns.
Peña is currently healing from an injury, making many believe that if it is not the case, she would be the one fighting at UFC 297. As Bueno Silva believes, on the other hand, she would have been the opponent of “The Venezuelan Vixen.” Pennington, who’s been in the UFC since 2013 and faced Nunes for the belt before, thinks otherwise.
“I don’t know who she thinks she is right now,” Pennington said during the UFC 297 media day. “I’ve been in this sport for a very long time, and I’ve been top 10 for the majority of my career in the UFC. For her to sit here, they were trying to find another opponent because Julianna is injured. It was supposed to be me and Julianna. So for her to think that it was supposed to be her and Julianna, I love the world she’s living in her own mind, but she’s a little confused.”
For “Rocky,” the only reason why fans would like to see the Bueno Silva vs. Peña is due to the two fighter’s similar character as trash talkers. This is not a surprise as “Sheetara” herself admitted it would be easier to promote a fight with Peña, who’s very vocal, being the opponent. However, Pennington, who’s usually stingy with words, wants to promote the true essence of fighters.
“She’s a character,” Pennington said. “All the things that she’s been saying are really entertaining me. What she just said, it’s contradicting to what I heard she’s saying. At the end of the day, she’s talking all the crap and saying all the things, and sure, maybe the fans want to see her fight Julianna because they yap a lot. They talk. Everyone wants to see that. They love the entertaining portion. That’s just not who I am, and I think about the kids and the younger generation looking up to me. It’s not about talking crap about each other. A fight is a fight. Our fists will do the talking, so I don’t feel the need to waste the extra energy.”
