Julianna Pena recently defeated Raquel Pennington at UFC 307. With that victory, she became the UFC women’s bantamweight champion for the second time. However, not everyone believes Pena deserved to win. It turns out that UFC commentator Daniel Cormier shares similar sentiments. Here is what happened:
Daniel Cormier recently put up a video on his YouTube channel. The UFC commentator immediately analyzed UFC 307 straight from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Coming to the co-main event, Cormier revealed that he thought Julianna Pena actually lost to Raquel Pennington.
I thought that she lost the fight I will be honest but I need to go back and watch round one. I thought Raquel won round four and five pretty convincingly but Julianna did have moments in round five but I thought it all came down to round one. I will go back and re-watch that to see what I remember though it was a very very slow round…
Daniel Cormier via YouTube
Pena won the second and third rounds convincingly, but Pennington mounted a comeback in later rounds. She even dropped Pena with a heavy right hand in the fourth round, making the bout extremely close. However, two judges scored it 48-47 in favor of Pena, securing her victory.
The decision was somewhat controversial. Raquel Pennington herself called for an immediate rematch. ‘Rocky’ expressed that she won rounds 1, 4 and 5. However, the controversial win was not the only thing that irked Daniel Cormier about the UFC 307 co-main event.
Daniel Cormier believes Julianna Pena “dropped the ball” at UFC 307
Daniel Cormier believes Julianna Pena made a tactical error following her UFC 307 victory. After her split decision win over Raquel Pennington, the new champion chose to call out Amanda Nunes for a trilogy bout. ‘DC’ feels that Pena didn’t make use of the moment on the microphone to build up her next title defense.
The retired two-division champion believes Pena vs. Kayla Harrison is next after UFC 307. Amanda Nunes retired after UFC 289. She is currently enjoying retirement with her wife and two children. As such, Harrison is the clear-cut contender for the next title fight. This is why Cormier didn’t like Pena’s octagon interview.
I will say this: she dropped the ball on the callout. I mean Kayla’s on the screen. Say her name. Why no sell the person that is clearly going to be your No. 1 contender?
Daniel Cormier via YouTube
Cormier concluded that waiting for the official announcement of the fight meant Pena was now a “step behind” in promoting the fight. However, she could have taken control of the narrative right after her victory. Ultimately, Cormier acknowledged Pena’s toughness and well-deserved status despite dropping the ball on capitalizing on the moment.
