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Exclusive | Raquel Pennington Talks Being Confused With Amber Heard’s Best Friend: “I’m Glad That’s Over With”

UFC women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington has faced the heat of passionate fans confusing her with Amber Heard’s former best friend. Pennington is coming off a dominant win over Aspen Ladd at UFC 273. The fight went the distance and ‘Rocky’ secured a unanimous decision win but has been out of action since due to a […]

UFC women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington has faced the heat of passionate fans confusing her with Amber Heard’s former best friend.

Pennington is coming off a dominant win over Aspen Ladd at UFC 273. The fight went the distance and ‘Rocky’ secured a unanimous decision win but has been out of action since due to a hand injury.

Raquel Pennington gets confused with Amber Heard’s friend

Recently, Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial has been massively popular in pop culture and the fact it’s being live-streamed adds fuel to the fire. During the course of the trial, the defense presented a video of one of her former best friend’s who’s named Raquel Pennington.

Not only does Heard’s former best friend share the same first and last name with the UFC veteran, but they both also have the same nickname, ‘Rocky’. This led to confusion amongst the fans who believed the fighter Raquel to be Heard’s ally. There were media reports suggesting her to be that person as well when she in fact was not.

In an interview with LowKick MMA, Raquel Pennington expanded on what it was like to face the brunt of angry fans due to being confused with Heard’s friend of the same name.

“Honestly, at this point, I’m so sick of hearing about it,” Pennington said. “Like, whenever it first started happening, it was just like, ‘what is going on?’ My social media blew up like crazy. It’s just crazy to me how it’s the year 2022 and we have so many resources available but the problem is, is media for one cannot report very well.”

Raquel Pennington shared her support for Depp and believed Heard and her team were not convincing.

“There’s been some media that mixed up some things and they keep saying former title challenger or MMA competitor, and that’s where it’s gotten the huge mix up in.” she said. “After everything kept dragging me into it and I kept hearing about it, I was like, ‘let’s watch some of this.’ So I watched some of the trial and I think that Amber, Raquel, all of them made themselves look absolutely ridiculous.

“That trial was just absolutely ridiculous. I was full force for Johnny on that one but at the end of the day I mean, it was extremely crazy to see like the messages that I was getting.”

Raquel Pennington talks about the public reaction

‘Rocky’ revealed the spiteful messages she was receiving in regards to Heard, some of which baffled her due to their explicit nature.

“Wow, people are extremely passionate and they absolutely hate Amber Heard. They hate her but the level that they were going to within just the words they were saying. It amazes me how somebody can get on their computer and type out the things that they can to other individuals. It’s honestly pretty sad.

“I had to make the best of this situation. So, I had some fun with it and I was going to catch heat regardless and what not but it was crazy. Needless to say, I’m glad that’s over with and I hope I don’t hear it anymore.

“Yeah, that girl just took a good name and destroyed it. It was just crazy. It is amazing the names that people come up with to call you and the things that they say and stuff, I was just like wow.”

Pennington talked about how the whole fiasco affected her partner, UFC strawweight Tecia Torres.

“People took the behind-the-scenes pictures of Tecia and I from like, my fight with Holly Holm at the arena. They started reporting that as like, me and my fiance. So she got dragged into it, was getting a lot of messages just saying really nasty things.

“Tecia, like, she pays attention to a lot more of that stuff so she was just getting really irritated with stuff but for a while, she was just like you know, ‘this is crazy’ and she was laughing at things and whatever. What are you going to do about it you know?”

Did you confuse Raquel Pennington with Amber Heard’s friend?

Exclusive | Raquel Pennington Calls For UFC Title-Eliminator Clash Against Ketlen Vieira

One-time UFC bantamweight title challenger, Raquel Pennington has made her intentions for her next Octagon outing clear; a division title-eliminator against surging Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira – in a bid to land her second title challenge at 135lbs. Pennington, who previously challenged for undisputed bantamweight gold back in May 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, […]

Pennington, who previously challenged for undisputed bantamweight gold back in May 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, eventually suffered a fifth round ground strikes knockout loss against former two-weight champion and current featherweight titleholder, Amanda Nunes.

Unbeaten since January 2020, Pennington has landed a career purple patch most definitely, scoring victories in her last four consecutive Octagon appearances.

Featuring most recently at UFC 273 in April, Pennington managed to defeat division contender, Aspen Ladd over the course of three rounds in a unanimous decision success.

Raquel Pennington eyes a title-eliminator in her next UFC outing

Speaking on her intentions to land a high-profile matchup next, Pennington, who initially set sights on fellow one-time title chaser, Sara McMann, then floated a potential pairing against Vieira.

“I just feel like, Sara’s (McMann) on her own grind, and within the top-10 – but really I think the real, title-eliminator match would be against Ketlen Vieira,” Raquel Pennington told LowKick MMA reporter, Nikhil Sharma.

“I actually wanted to fight her, I was trying to fight her,” Raquel Pennington said of a fight with Ketlen Vieira. “And then they (the UFC) said Holly (Holm) was no longer injured, and then I ended up fighting Aspen (Ladd). And now, I have the hand injury, but, yeah I would absolutely love to fight Ketlen.”

As for Manaus native, Vieira, the current #2 ranked bantamweight contender defeat the aforenoted former champion, Holm with a close, contentious split decision victory at the end of last month.

The victory came as the Brazilian’s second over a former division champion, after she dispatched MIesha Tate in her first promotional main event back in November of last year.

The owner of 11 Octagon successes, prior to her win over the previously mentioned, Ladd, Pennington stopped Macy Chiasson, and handed decision losses to Pannie Kianzad, and Marion Reneau. Pennington also holds wins over common-foe, Tate, as well as former strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade.

Pennington Recalls Extent Of 2017 Injury: Almost Had My Leg Amputated

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Raquel Pennington has described the nature of the leg injury that forced her to remain on the sidelines for over a year-and-a-half. At UFC 224 in May 2018, Pennington challenged for gold for the first time on MMA’s biggest stage. At the time, she was riding a four-fight win streak, including…

Continue Reading Pennington Recalls Extent Of 2017 Injury: Almost Had My Leg Amputated at MMA News.

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Raquel Pennington has described the nature of the leg injury that forced her to remain on the sidelines for over a year-and-a-half.

At UFC 224 in May 2018, Pennington challenged for gold for the first time on MMA’s biggest stage. At the time, she was riding a four-fight win streak, including victories over former 135-pound queen Miesha Tate, Bethe Correia, and Jéssica Andrade, who went on to win the strawweight title in 2019.

In her way of glory was Nunes, who’d already defended her title against Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko. In the fifth round of her clash with Pennington, the “Lioness” made it three for three with retentions thanks to a convincing TKO finish.

Prior to her title shot, Pennington hadn’t been in action for over 18 months. The lengthy layoff came after “Rocky” broke her leg in a scary hunting accident, forcing her initial bout with Nunes to be canceled. While riding an ATV down a mountain, Pennington flipped, with the motor pinning her leg down.

As she pursues another championship opportunity, Pennington has looked back on the incident, which she says almost saw her leg amputated. With the seriousness of the injury in mind, the Colorado native believes she was far from ready upon her return to the Octagon against Nunes.

“For me, that was a rough time, when her and I ended up fighting. Coming back from an 18-month layoff, coming back from the injury I sustained in my leg and that nerve damage,” recalled Pennington during her appearance at the UFC 273 post-fight press conference last month.

“I’ve never experienced—almost had my leg amputated, and me, emotionally, just rushed back in. I was nowhere near ready for that.”

Pennington Hopes To Get Loss To “Beatable” Nunes back

While Pennington went on to suffer losses to Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm before returning to her best, Nunes maintained her dominance for the following years. Her two-division reign was only broken last December when the Brazilian shared the cage with unlikely champion Julianna Peña.

Pennington believes her fellow TUF alum‘s championship crowning was a healthy reminder that no titleholder is invincible, no matter how dominant they appear. “Rocky” is hoping to hammer home that point by earning a rematch with the “Lioness” down the line.

“Honestly, (the Nunes loss) just stirred up the division, which I think gave a lot of excitement to all the other competitors in there,” noted Pennington. “A lot of people get kind of—the same way with Ronda (Rousey), no disrespect to anybody, they freakin’ do exactly what they needed to do, but it’s almost like, when you have one person who’s constantly winning, people start marking them as these invincible people.

“At the end of the day, they’re just people. They’re doing what they need to do, but everybody’s beatable,” continued Pennington. “I feel like, with Amanda losing, it was just that reminder to the division that she’s a human being and she’s beatable… As a competitor, I would love to redeem myself in that fight.”

Pennington took a sizeable leap closer to making that dream a reality this past weekend at UFC 273. On the preliminary card, the 33-year-old squared off with Aspen Ladd. Having secured a comfortable decision victory, “Rocky” has risen to No.4 in the women’s bantamweight rankings.

With Peña and Nunes set to rematch later this year, Pennington will be targeting another win to place herself in a position to challenge the victor down the line.

How do you think a rematch between Raquel Pennington and Amanda Nunes would play out?

Continue Reading Pennington Recalls Extent Of 2017 Injury: Almost Had My Leg Amputated at MMA News.

UFC Fighter Raquel Pennington Was Not The Person That Hit Amber Heard

UFC bantamweight fighter Raquel Pennington is not the same Raquel Pennington that hit Amber Heard. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are amongst the headlines of every major news outlet and the fallout of the court case has not been graceful. From Depp cracking jokes about Heard’s lawyer, to Heard’s lawyer objecting to his own question […]

UFC bantamweight fighter Raquel Pennington is not the same Raquel Pennington that hit Amber Heard.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are amongst the headlines of every major news outlet and the fallout of the court case has not been graceful. From Depp cracking jokes about Heard’s lawyer, to Heard’s lawyer objecting to his own question that he had asked a witness. The whole ordeal has been rather sad and malicious, but it had taken a wide left turn when MMA fans found out Raquel Pennington hit Heard.

The only thing was, it was a totally different Raquel Pennington. The other Pennington and Heard had been friends for a while and something led to her slapping Heard. The bantamweight fighter took to Twitter to clear the air about the entire situation.

“I love how I’m getting drug into this Johnny Depp trial and idk any of those people…get your Facts together ppl. There are more Raquel Penningtons in the world.” Pennington tweeted out to her fans.

She tweeted out another statement later on as well.

“This is becoming comical at this point how people are so “invested” in the depp vs herd case but don’t have facts together or can’t even google to realize I don’t know those people and am not involved”

Raquel Pennington is coming off a win over Aspen Ladd, just 18 days ago at UFC 273

She beat Ladd pretty easily via unanimous decision in her fight back in the bantamweight division. She is currently the fourth ranked fighter in the division and another shot at the title may be in the future for Pennington. Pennington challenged Amanda Nunes for the title just four years ago, but ultimately lost by TKO in the fifth round of the match.

Did you believe it was the UFC fighter that struck Amber Heard?

No, UFC’s Raquel Pennington Did Not Hit Amber Heard

UFC bantamweight Raquel Pennington has come forward to clear the air about false reports that she struck actress Amber Heard. One of the top stories circulating the media at the moment is the ongoing defamation lawsuit against Heard by Johnny Depp. During the proceedings, an alleged incident was disclosed regarding the actress being struck by…

Continue Reading No, UFC’s Raquel Pennington Did Not Hit Amber Heard at MMA News.

UFC bantamweight Raquel Pennington has come forward to clear the air about false reports that she struck actress Amber Heard.

One of the top stories circulating the media at the moment is the ongoing defamation lawsuit against Heard by Johnny Depp. During the proceedings, an alleged incident was disclosed regarding the actress being struck by Raquel “Rocky” Pennington.

Dr. Shannon Curry took to the court to testify having studied Heard in 2021, diagnosing her with borderline personality disorder as well as a histrionic personality disorder.

The court heard Dr. Curry explain how the disorders can cause a person to lash out when their needs aren’t met, which in this case allegedly caused Heard to lash out at “Raquel Pennington.”

Dr. Curry explained the symptoms which saw her diagnose the 36-year-old with the disorders.

“To claim being non-judgemental but really be full of a lot of rage; a lot of inner anger and blame — which can explode out at times; passive-aggressive behavior and self-indulgent and self-centered behavior; manipulative; needy, and seeking approval.

“Being highly socially sophisticated, with a capacity to reveal some of their own faults but only the smaller ones that are socially acceptable,” said Dr. Curry.

Heard’s legal team then claimed that Pennington had also hit Heard in retaliation, protesting that the abuse had gone both ways in the friendship.

Some media outlets then ran with these statements and reported that it was the UFC’s own Raquel Pennington who was being referenced. Last week, the former title challenger set the record straight.

“I love how I’m getting drug into this Johnny Depp trial and idk any of those people…get your Facts together ppl. There are more Raquel Penningtons in the world,” Pennington posted.

The Raquel Pennington in question is an ex-friend and ex-neighbor of Heard who works as a craft jeweler.

The court case from which this story comes is Depp suing Heard for libel for “at least” $50 million over an opinion column that the actress wrote on her history of suffering from domestic abuse. The piece that was posted in the Washington Post in 2018 didn’t feature Depp’s name, yet he’s claiming that the article abruptly ended his acting career in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Heard herself is countersuing him for $100 million claiming that the actor looked to smear her name in an attempt to derail her own career.

As she herself pointed out, the UFC’s Raquel Pennington has nothing to do with this case. She is far too busy getting W’s, including in her last four outings, most recently over Aspen Ladd at UFC 273.

Continue Reading No, UFC’s Raquel Pennington Did Not Hit Amber Heard at MMA News.

Pennington Believes Fight Against Julianna Peña Is Years In The Making

Raquel Pennington thinks her recent momentum in the UFC will ultimately lead her to a title fight.

The rising bantamweight contender mentioned Saturday that she thinks her recent campaign will continue with a successful 2022 that could include a ti…

Raquel Pennington thinks her recent momentum in the UFC will ultimately lead her to a title fight.

The rising bantamweight contender mentioned Saturday that she thinks her recent campaign will continue with a successful 2022 that could include a title shot. This statement comes after her recent victory over Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 45.

“I feel like this is my time. This year coming up is my year. I was born to be a world champion. This isn’t an easy sport and I’m truly talented in it,” said Pennington during her post-fight media scrum. “And it’s just about making shifts lately. And here I am. And I’m not injured.”

Pennington Targets Bantamweight Champ Peña

Raquel Pennington — Image Credit: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Pennington wants to fight UFC Bantamweight Champion Julianna Peña next. Peña earned her belt just last week, scoring an upset win over Amanda Nunes.

Pennington did take a brief trip up to featherweight for this week’s fight, but that was only due to the short-notice nature of the booking. Pennington has expressed interest in fight at both 135 and 145-pounds, but she still has her sights set on bantamweight first and foremost.

When discussing a potential fight against Peña, Pennington brought up the history between them, reflecting on how they both fought on the same season of The Ultimate Fighter.

“I remember years ago Dana [White] always thought that me and Julianna [Peña] would be the ones to meet up in the finale for The Ultimate Fighter. My fight with Jessamyn Duke, I took a lot of injuries in there and we won Fight of the Season. It was a great fight, but in that short period of time, I had no time to heal. I went into my semi-finals fight with a broken hand. My journey has been different. But hey, maybe we’ll align for a world title now.”

We don’t know currently what’s next for the new champ Peña. The champ recently cited her interest in facing Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko, or possibly facing Nunes in a rematch.

Do you think we’ll see Raquel Pennington challenge for a title in 2022?

Continue Reading Pennington Believes Fight Against Julianna Peña Is Years In The Making at MMA News.