With a baby on the way, Colorado Springs native Raquel Pennington channels emotions into pivotal UFC fight

Jan. 13—The timer beeps in the octagon at "Pound 4 Pound" in Littleton, signifying the start of the first 5-minute round. It's nearly 10:30 a.m. on a Monday morning in the suburban strip mall, the gym tucked between an Asian cuisine restaurant and a laundromat.

Raquel Pennington, in her final full-on, blow-out-the-lungs workout before the most unique fight of her career launches at sparring partner Miranda Maverick with a series of jabs and kicks.

Moments before, Pennington had exuded calm. She discussed a book club, blushing at the unexpected eroticism that snuck up on her in a recent read. The lifelong Colorado Springs resident, a Harrison graduate, and Maverick shared laughs.

Then a flip switches and Pennington transforms.

***

I'm not an emotional person, Raquel Pennington insists.

That has made all these tears even more challenging to process. And no, these tears have nothing to do with Saturday's UFC Fight Night matchup with Ketlen Viera in Las Vegas. Though the stakes there are large.

Viera is ranked No. 2 in the bantamweight division. Pennington is ranked fifth. A win here for Pennington would be a fifth in a row and set up a potential title fight.

The match is scheduled to take place around 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

This fight is a big deal, but not enough to unlock this new side of Pennington the way she's experienced with recent developments at home.

She sobbed at the news of her wife's pregnancy. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time had the same impact. Then there was the gender reveal in December, with news it is a little girl on the way. Tears of joy at each turn.

"It's crazy," Pennington said. "It's so exciting."

Pennington and her wife, fellow UFC standout Tecia Torres, had planned for pregnancy with Pennington undergoing egg extraction in 2021 to set up the possibility of in vitro fertilization, but like their five-year engagement, there was no established timeline.

When Torres received a fight offer in October, something told her she needed to turn it down.

"She got the call and she stared at me. She said, 'I actually want to make this happen,'" Pennington said. "We agreed that we would try for the first time. ... I kind of tried to convince her to take another fight, but she's just ready for the next step in life. It was planned, but obviously you don't know if it's going to take the first time."

It took, with the fertilized egg now growing within Torres.

"Baby Pennington coming June 2023," Torres posted on Instagram. "We are beyond excited and feel incredibly blessed.

"Mommies love you so much sweet baby and we can't wait for this life with you."

***

Maverick clasps her arms around Pennington's midsection from behind, reminiscent of the tactic Holly Holm used on Pennington in her last loss back on Jan. 18, 2020. This time Pennington reverses the move and throws Maverick into a headlock, squeezing her neck tightly with a locked arm.

A sign on the wall stresses that there are no sparring opponents, only partners. Pennington admits, however, on this day she's not being very nice.

***

Justin Houghton has served as Pennington's striking coach since 2019, assuming the role before Pennington defeated Irene Aldana in a split decision in San Antonio — a turning point of her career.

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He wasn't there to witness the initial six-year climb that culminated in a title fight with Amanda Nunes in Brazil, but he's seen a large enough snapshot of her career to understand where she is now.

"She's got that 'it,' that athleticism, that timing, and she works hard," said Houghton, who has operated "Pound 4 Pound" in the Denver area for 16 years and has nearly 40 professional fighters on his roster. "The thing that I think has separated her in this past month is her mental space. She's turning the corner and she's really started to believe in herself.

"I've been telling her since I've been working with her that she is the hardest-hitting (and) has the best timing for a female fighter that I've worked with. And I've been doing this for two decades."

This has not been an easy pre-fight camp for Pennington. A finger injury hasn't gone away (the joint remains grotesquely swollen), and the 14-week length of the camp is roughly double that of a normal fight leadup.

Pennington chose this. Her last fight, where she and Torres appeared on the same card, came on short notice and she went from "zero to 100" immediately. This time she sought a longer runway.

"This 14 weeks isn't just the work that I've been putting in, it's been my entire life dedicated to athletics," Pennington said. "It was all just making up my mind. If I'm going to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and travel up here before the sun comes up, I'm going to come in and put up my best effort every time."

***

The final flurry of the sparring session sees Pennington connect on a series of punches, the kind of rapid-fire deployment typically reserved for unrealistic finales in boxing movies.

"You're a champion if you fight like this," Houghton shouts from outside the octagon, as her three-person coaching staff swaps glances that seem to confirm their collective belief that she is ready.

***

Pennington has studied her opponent, but her preparation generally aims inward as opposed to adjusting to the person sharing the octagon.

"I feel like when I just decide to make up my mind, it's game over for whoever's in front of me," she said.

Viera, 31, has a deep background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and judo, holding black belts in both. She is also a Brazilian national champion in wrestling.

Pennington, 34, feels her veteran status in the matchup still tips the scales in her favor should the fight lean toward hands, wrestling, grappling, Jiu-Jitsu... come what may.

"I'm confident in all matchups," Pennington (14-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) said.

Vierra (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who is also treating Saturday as a potential springboard to a title fight, understands the challenge awaiting her.

"Raquel is very, very tough," Vierra said at a pre-fight press conference. "She has a lot of experience, and that makes her even tougher. There's nothing I can bring to the cage that she hasn't faced before. She even fought for the title, so I've got to be 100% focused for this fight, I've got to bring my 100% for this fight, and that's my plan. I know how tough she is."

Pennington enters the fight not only as an expectant mother, watching her wife grow the child created from her egg, but also as a newlywed.

Finally accepting that their busy schedules weren't going to allow for the planning required for a wedding bash, the couple walked into to the Colorado Springs courthouse in July and tied the knot. They then celebrated at home.

"I come from a huge Hispanic family, so they all showed up," Pennington said.

As for married life, "even though Tecia and I have been together for seven years, it's different," Pennington said. "That's not a bad thing."

All of the emotions will come to a head on Saturday. With Torres putting her career on hold, Pennington has embraced the role of provider for her growing family. From a professional standpoint, she has long sought the bantamweight belt. And she wants to leave something behind as an example to one day show her daughter. She wants to show the result of holding nothing back in pursuing a goal.

She's a veteran stepping into a familiar world that suddenly feels entirely new. And it's overwhelming.

"I still really didn't think this much emotion would overcome me with this process," Pennington said. "I'm trying to embrace it."