Two friends face off to open the main card of UFC 205: Tate vs Pennington

To kick off the main card of Madison Square Garden’s first ever UFC event, two seasoned bantamweights will look to set an example for others to follow in what is a beyond talent-packed event. As former champ, and now #1 contender, Miesha Tate looks to eradicate what was a ‘bad day at the office’ when she lost UFC gold to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. Number 8 ranked Raquel Pennington hopes to pounce on an opportunity which could extend her three fight winning streak and make a strong claim for a title shot.

Tate suffered a brutal loss at the hands of Amanda Nunes
back at UFC 200 in July.
Credit: The Guardian

 With so many monumental match-ups under the spotlight, it is hard to believe Miesha Tate, who (in a hectic turn of events) headlined what was dubbed to be “the biggest event in company history” back at UFC 200 in July, is fighting on UFC 205. Her bout with Raquel Pennington is the first time in almost 2 years that Tate will not be appearing in a main, or co-main event of the evening, which itself speaks leaps and bounds about the current depth of this New York card.

It’s not often a fighter who has recently lost the belt will face such a low ranked contender in their division, but it was not like Tate had defended the belt several times, it was her first defense, and she fell short. It’s similar to the Werdum v Browne 2 situation. However, I think a re-match with Cat Zingano (who lost to Juliana Pena on the same night as Tate at UFC 200) or a bout against Shevchenko who is ranked third would have made more sense. Pena is out of the question as White recently announced she has been turning down fights.

One big factor that could play into Tate’s favour (and potentially Pennington’s) is that back when she was a coach on TUF 18, she chose Pennington to be on her team. Although they were only with each other for a few months, it obviously gave both competitors a rough idea of each other’s training methods, and fight styles.

Pennington's most recent win came vs Elizabeth Phillips
at UFC 202 in August.
Credit: MMAJunkie

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Tate credited Pennington as extremely ‘durable’ and very ‘physically strong’ however she was also surprised about the match-up. Not pushing aside Pennington’s abilities, Tate was expecting a potential re-match with either Holm or Zingano, however she acknowledges the ‘great match-up’ with Pennington and was ‘honored’ to take this fight.

Standing with very similar frames, there will be no height or reach advantage for either woman in this fight. Another similarity these women share are their well-rounded fight styles, both have adapted their game to suit wherever the fight ends up, however Tate may hold a slight advantage with her extensive wrestling background. Nevertheless, it will be a fun way to fuel the first ever UFC event in NYC, and will hopefully set up for what is ‘destined’ to be another historic card.