02/10/2024
Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Raquel Pennington (16-9, fighting out of Colorado Springs, Colo.) aims to keep her seat at the top and extend her six-fight win streak by defeating Peña in dominant fashion
UFC women’s bantamweight champion
One wins by knockout, four via submission
Currently on a six-fight win streak
Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Raquel Pennington (16-9, fighting out of Colorado Springs, Colo.) aims to keep her seat at the top and extend her six-fight win streak by defeating Peña in dominant fashion
UFC women’s bantamweight champion
One wins by knockout, four via submission
Currently on a six-fight win streak
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Good morning.
00:07Tisha, over here.
00:08Obviously, it's been a little bit since we last saw you,
00:11so I guess, you know, how's life been
00:12since, you know, your last performance in the octagon?
00:15Life's been pretty great.
00:17My daughter's growing up very quickly.
00:19They say don't blink, and that's 100% true.
00:23Just enjoying being a mommy with my wife
00:26and went through the grind
00:27for the last eight weeks during fight camp.
00:29Before we get into your fight,
00:31I think I saw you brought her to Fenway for the first time,
00:33so how was that?
00:34It was awesome.
00:35Actually, it was not her first time at Fenway.
00:38Last year, it's okay.
00:39For my birthday, we went to the Morgan Wallen concert
00:41thinking, you know, at that time,
00:44I'm mama bear more than Raquel, I think, sometimes,
00:46but protecting Raquel, with protecting Alea,
00:49and we sat in the stairwell because she was too little.
00:52We were too close with our tickets and stuff.
00:56So her second experience was an actual game,
00:58and that was really fun.
01:00She enjoyed it.
01:01She liked the little baseball foams
01:02that they gave her or whatever, but it was a good time.
01:04Did she understand what was happening,
01:06or was it just, you know, excitement all around?
01:09Who knows if she understood,
01:10but she had a good time.
01:11She was smiling.
01:12She enjoyed it.
01:13Well, and look, so looking at your fight on Saturday,
01:15you know, I'm sure you've been asked this a million times,
01:17but what do you think of, you know,
01:18fighting on the same card as Raquel?
01:21In the beginning, didn't really care for it
01:23because I get anxiety for myself,
01:25and then for her, it's even more so.
01:28So my only thing is I would like to fight first,
01:30and for us, it happens where I fight first,
01:33and then I could get my W and worry about her after.
01:37And obviously, you're matching up with Karla,
01:39a person that you obviously have history with.
01:40I'm curious, are you surprised it took this long
01:42for you guys to, you know, match up again
01:44in an actual, like, UFC fight,
01:45not like an exhibition matchup?
01:48Yeah, I mean, at this point, you know,
01:50for a long time now, I've fought all the champions
01:52in my weight class.
01:55Yeah, it was bound to happen again.
01:57It's awesome that it's, you know, her going away fight.
02:00I'll give it a nice going away for her present.
02:03Are you surprised she announced it
02:04kind of so far out from the fight?
02:06Because some people don't like announcing it
02:07because then that's the question they always get.
02:09They kind of decide in the octagon.
02:11So are you surprised that she announced it
02:12kind of so far out from your fight?
02:13No, Karla has never been anywhere nice,
02:15really, to keep secrets or anything like that.
02:18She's pretty by the book.
02:20And obviously, Raquel and Juliana,
02:22their issue stems from the Ultimate Fighter
02:24when they had to share a room.
02:25Did you have any issues with Karla
02:26when you guys were in the tough house?
02:31Prior to Karla having a child,
02:33she wasn't my favorite, if I'm being honest.
02:36No, just because in the house, you know,
02:38we were all young and I felt like
02:41I didn't stand up for myself enough.
02:42And she was one of the girls that weren't as nice to me.
02:44And just over the years, things have been said about me,
02:48particularly my body.
02:49And she has been one of them who has, in the past,
02:52said I took steroids or whatnot.
02:54I think she quickly changed her mind after I had a baby
02:58and I looked the exact damn same.
02:59And now she's super nice.
03:01We just talk mom talk, it's cool.
03:03I'm letting it go, but I do remember that.
03:06I don't forget it.
03:06But she hasn't come up to you and said,
03:08like, there hasn't been a formal apology for it?
03:10No, no, I mean, if you want to give it to me, Karla,
03:12you can give it to me, but it's all good.
03:15Yeah, you know, I'm just genetically gifted.
03:17I work hard, you know.
03:18At one point, I was the most tested athlete
03:20in the United States, in the UFC.
03:25I've probably been tested over 80 times,
03:26never had an issue, just a freak of nature.
03:28And then last one for me, you know,
03:30you've had some issues being on the wrong end
03:32of split decisions lately.
03:33Karla can make fights, you know,
03:35she can make fights to split decision type of fights.
03:37So I guess, how do you see this fight playing out?
03:39What do you think you need to do to not, you know,
03:41force another split decision?
03:42Yeah, the split decisions have hurt me.
03:44It's hurt more of the loss than anything,
03:46getting punched or kicked by these girls or whatnot.
03:48I truly believe that I won those last two fights.
03:51But for Karla, you know, her game plan is to take me down.
03:54That's her way to winning, is take me down, hold me down.
03:56I don't see that happening.
03:58I believe I'm stronger, faster.
04:00I have really good movement, ring knowledge, IQ.
04:04We've both been fighting for a long time.
04:06My striking is a lot better than hers.
04:10Yeah, so I just feel like I'm gonna stuff
04:11all her takedowns, keep it striking.
04:13If it does go to the ground, I'm fine with that.
04:15I'm not scared of her jujitsu or anything like that.
04:18I think she's a great fighter overall,
04:20but I don't think her skills match up to mine.
04:25She's right over here.
04:26Is Raquel gonna be in your corner or anything like that?
04:29No, Raquel won't be in my corner.
04:31Also, what is it like just being married to a UFC champion,
04:34obviously you being a fighter yourself as well?
04:37You know, we've been together for the past eight years.
04:39We've had lots of ups and downs as any relationship.
04:42And being in the same sport and the same occupation
04:46has had its benefits and its pullbacks.
04:49But we've gotten to a point where now we're able to manage it
04:52and get through with our days great, and I love it.
04:57Having somebody who understands the grit,
04:59the grind that it takes to be in this sport
05:02at this level is awesome.
05:04In the beginning, we used to train together a lot,
05:06but over the years, we found out separating our camps
05:09is best for us, especially for me, I'm very emotional.
05:12I'd say she helps me out more than I help out her.
05:15She can be a great partner for me.
05:18For her, I'm not big enough.
05:20She needs to go with the guys to get a good go.
05:23But as far as being with the UFC champion, it's awesome.
05:25I'm proud of my wife.
05:27I've been there for eight of her 14 years of her career.
05:31We both came up from The Ultimate Fighter.
05:33I know what it took to get to this point.
05:36And it's just inspiring for me.
05:37I'm still getting at it.
05:40I feel like I got one more good run in me
05:42and I feel like I can make it happen for myself too.
05:44I just need to, I don't know, switch some things up,
05:47be meaner or something.
05:49I have the skill, you know, I've never been finished.
05:52I've never been truly beaten up or anything.
05:54I fought the best of the best.
05:57It's just timing.
05:58And my coaches keep telling me,
05:59like they told me last night,
06:00like, Tisha, you keep getting better.
06:02Cause I talk to them all the time.
06:03Like, I don't know, I got like two, three more years,
06:05like three max, I want to have another kid.
06:07But they're like, you just keep getting better, you know?
06:09Like, let's worry about that later.
06:10So honestly, it's the judges who keep fucking me
06:13if I'm being honest.
06:14Like, I go back and I'm like,
06:16I don't know who the judges were,
06:17but did they go home and they rewatched that fight?
06:18And they were like, man,
06:20I took away opportunity from this girl.
06:21I took away money from this girl.
06:22Like, that sucks.
06:23I wish I could have done something different.
06:25So I kind of wish we had universal,
06:27like where they tell you the score afterwards.
06:29You know how Invicta does it?
06:30That'd be awesome.
06:31Cause then like, as an athlete, I know like, oh, okay.
06:36But nonetheless, I'm excited.
06:38My wife is amazing.
06:39I'm ready to get my hand raised and then get back there.
06:42If she wants me back there with her,
06:43if not, I'll be in the crowd with my family.
06:45We got about like 40, 50 people out here
06:47waiting to support us.
06:49Tisha, I'm just curious,
06:51how difficult was it for the two of you
06:53to be in fight camp at the same time and also be mothers?
06:56Yeah, we, you know, we fought before together,
06:58but this was a different, a different thing.
07:00Time management was very important.
07:02When they say it takes a village to raise a child,
07:05it really does.
07:05And I learned that through this fight camp, you know.
07:08Raquel's mom, Alea's Coco, as she likes to be called,
07:12and her best friend really helped us.
07:14Her mom had her twice a week overnight.
07:17Her friend had her three or four times
07:19during the week, during the day.
07:20And we would just switch off.
07:21Raquel would train and then I would train.
07:23I would drop off the baby in the morning.
07:24She'd pick up the baby in the evening.
07:25And it really worked for us.
07:26It sucked a little bit because, you know,
07:28we want to be around our daughter all the time.
07:31But that just made it work
07:32and it made things less stressful for us
07:34because we were able to get some errands done
07:35during the day as well in between training sessions.
07:38Overall, it went really smooth
07:39and I'm grateful for the help we had.
07:42And is it kind of a positive in the negative
07:46of the fact that you were both in camp at the same time
07:48that you'll both be off at the same time?
07:50You'll both be recovering at the same time?
07:52I didn't look at it like that, but that sounds great
07:54because we're definitely ready for a little vacation.
07:56We normally go to Florida and visit her family, my family.
08:00So that's what we plan on doing after this
08:02and enjoying Halloween.
08:03We have our little, our daughter loves Bluey.
08:05So we're going to be the Bluey family for Halloween.
08:08I'm excited for that.
08:09And I'm just excited for a little break, you know.
08:12I'm not getting any younger.
08:13I'm grateful I don't have, you know,
08:14many injuries or anything like that.
08:17But I need a break.
08:19Tisha, right over here.
08:21Your opponent, Carla Esparza,
08:23is coming back from what we can kind of say maternity leave.
08:26And this is something that you experienced as well,
08:29you know, pretty recently too.
08:30What do you believe to be some of the biggest hurdles
08:33that one has to overcome
08:34to make this transition back to fighting?
08:37Well, number one is just getting your body used
08:40to be getting hit again and moving.
08:42For me, I had a C-section,
08:44so it was a little bit different.
08:46I don't think she had a C-section,
08:47but I don't know how her journey went.
08:49For me personally, the cardio getting back,
08:52you know, after two years of not being in there
08:54like I normally am every day.
08:57My pelvic region, like movements,
08:59fast switch movements were very hard.
09:01They hurt in the beginning.
09:04I wasn't able to make the turnaround.
09:06Like some girls, they do five, six months,
09:07like awesome for them,
09:09but there's no way I could have gotten hit in my,
09:10you know, my lower region at that time.
09:13I think I took the appropriate amount of time off.
09:15I felt great in my last fight.
09:17It's just, you know,
09:18the judges didn't see it that way, I guess.
09:21But yeah, maybe for some people it's weight
09:24because, you know, you gain a lot of weight.
09:26I gained 38 pounds, but luckily I lost it very quickly.
09:30Yeah, your body just getting back
09:33and getting used to getting hit again, I feel like.
09:35And last for me,
09:36how has having your young daughter in your life
09:39influenced you or given you an extra push
09:42within your fighting career?
09:44It's amazing.
09:45Everything I do is for her and my wife now,
09:47you know, our little family.
09:50I want her to look back on this one day
09:52and just be like so proud of her moms,
09:54how strong we were,
09:56how awesome we are as people
09:57and just how great we are to her.
09:58You know, she has a beautiful life.
10:00She's experienced so much in the past 16 months
10:02that she has no clue, you know.
10:05She's loved by many.
10:07Yeah, she's my everything.
10:10All right, just over here.
10:11Do you feel that this fight's gonna be any different
10:14with this being Karla's retirement fight?
10:18I think she's gonna be same old Karla,
10:20same thing coming in with some like drop,
10:22you know, here and here,
10:24going for the takedown or try to catch my leg
10:26and take me down that way.
10:28I'm not saying she's not gonna take me down.
10:30She might, but I'll get right back up.
10:32I'll stuff a lot of her takedowns.
10:33I'll, you know, use my movement.
10:36Yeah, like I said, the key to her winning
10:37is holding me down, but I don't see that happening.
10:39There's not been a girl who's been able to do that,
10:41who's been able to get up and do what I wanna do.
10:44Okay, and how do you think Raquel's gonna do
10:46against Juliana?
10:49Oh, she's gonna beat her.
10:49She's gonna smash her.
10:50Like, I know people, some people are on Juliana's train,
10:54some people aren't, but Raquel's just so ready, man.
10:57I watch her spar.
10:59She hasn't sparred girls for a reason.
11:00She hits hard.
11:01She hits hard.
11:02She, you know, she has great submissions.
11:05I don't think Juliana has a prey.
11:07I think for Juliana, the only way she does it
11:09is her straight grit.
11:10Because Juliana is, you know, she can take a punch.
11:12She can go five rounds and she'll continue to fight.
11:15But I see Raquel's hand getting raised,
11:17whether it's, you know, stoppage or goes to five rounds.
11:21And just last one.
11:22How do you think the main event goes
11:23between Pereira and Rountree?
11:26I'm a fan of Pereira, so I'll go with him.
11:28But honestly, they're both great fighters, great athletes.
11:32I wouldn't be mad with anyone other than winning.
11:38Cool, thank you guys.
11:39Have a good one.