The co-main event of UFC 297 is the Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva. The main reason why this is such an exciting bout is that it’s a fight for the vacant UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship.
The championship belt was left vacant after Amanda Nunes retired from professional MMA. She used to hold that title on two occasions, with her first stint seeing her defend the title five times. One of the fighters she defended it is Raquel Pennington whom she beat by a TKO. It was the first and (so far) only time that “Rocky” suffered a loss this way.
Meanwhile, Mayra Bueno Silva is fighting for the title for the first time in her career. She’s hungry for success and UFC offshore odds suggest she’s going to satisfy her hunger. What do we think? Keep reading this Pennington vs. Bueno Silva prediction to find out!
Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva Prediction
Raquel Pennington is 15-8, but all of her losses happened against real legends of WMMA. As already mentioned, her only TKO loss happened against legendary Amanda Nunes, while she suffered another loss by a finish when Cat Zingano beat her by submission while the two were fighting in Invicta FC, back in 2012.
Pennington’s most recent loss by decision happened to Holly Holm in January 2020. Since then, she’s undefeated with five wins in a row. Four of those were by decision, and one by submission in Pennington’s featherweight debut fight.
You might not think she’s been too impressive lately, but her recent couple of performances have shown that she’s grown as a fighter. She fights tactically and doesn’t rush anything.
It’s almost the opposite when it comes to Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1-1), who’s finished her last three opponents by submission – Stephanie Egger, Lina Lansberg, and Holly Holm.
The ninja choke win over Holm was later overturned to no contest after she tested positive for a banned substance.
Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva Prediction
| Offshore Sportsbook | Raquel Pennington | Mayra Bueno Silva |
|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | +137 | -157 |
| MyBookie | +135 | -155 |
| BetUS | +137 | -155 |
| SportsBetting.ag | +137 | -157 |
| XBet | +135 | -155 |
We think Mayra Bueno Silva is a more dangerous fighter than Raquel Pennington. However, we also think that the American fighter has a higher fight IQ.
While Bueno Silva likes finishing her fights on the ground, Pennington knows how to fight upright, keeping a distance and landing just enough strikes to hurt her opponent without risking getting taken down.
Knowing that Bueno Silva gets hit a lot (4.71 absorbed strikes per minute), we think that Pennington stands a very good chance in this fight.
Pick: Raquel Pennington
