Following a frustrating defeat in January, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington put herself back in contention at 135 pounds with a crucial win tonight at UFC on ESPN 11: “Blaydes vs Volkov” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pennington took a convincing decision victory over Marion “The Belizean Bruiser” Reneau.

Much like her fiancée, Tecia Torres, had done earlier on the card tonight, Pennington came on strong in rounds two and three of her main card bout with Reneau. Showcasing crisp combinations and knees in the clinch battles, Pennington wore Reneau down en route to a well-deserved victory.

Pennington (11-8-0) countered early jabs and one-twos from Reneau (9-6-1) with lead left hooks that led to the first clinch of the fight. Both landed knees and uppercuts, and the back-and-forth round continued until Reneau took Pennington’s back and she landed short right hands until the bell. Pennington was noticeably more aggressive after suffering a knee to the groin early in round two, and she was effective with knees to the body while trapping Reneau in a Thai clinch. Pennington reversed a takedown and scored with ground and pound later in the round as the momentum began to shift in her favour.

Reneau opened the final round with a takedown, but she was unable to hold Pennington down for long. The former UFC title challenger rose to her feet and landed a hard elbow to Reneau’s forehead before attacking with more clinch knees. Reneau prevented Pennington from taking her down, but Pennington stunned her with a standing elbow and closed out the fight with uppercuts in close. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Pennington, who got back on the winning track after dropping a decision to Holly Holm at UFC 246. She previously edged out fellow contender Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 4 in July.

(Photo Credit: UFC)