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Though she was the favorite ahead of her title fight, women’s bantamweight contender Mayra Bueno Silva came up short when she took on Raquel Pennington for the vacant belt at UFC 297. Even though the Brazilian had a good first round, she could not manage to keep the momentum going for the rest of the match and ended dropping a unanimous decision to ‘Rocky’ in the end.
Mayra Bueno Silva had an inner ear injury
Disappointing as the loss was, Bueno Silva claims there was a big reason why her performance changed between the first and the second rounds. In an interview with Ag Fight (translated by Bloody Elbow), ‘Sheetara’ explained she had suffered an inner ear injury after taking a punch from Pennington, which left the Brazilian disoriented from the second round until the end of the fight.
“I have watched the fight about three times. I’m not happy with my performance. It was way below what I’ve been showing lately. I’m really sad about everything that has happened. My first round was flawless, but, unfortunately, I ended up receiving a blow took me out of the fight and I was on survival mode from then on.
“I ate an overhand that partially ruptured my inner ear and I lost my equilibrium.” Bueno Silva said. “I told my cornerns ‘I’m dizzy’. I couldn’t impose my gameplan anymore, which was to fight on the feet. I tried to grapple so I wouldn’t get hit anymore, because I was already so dizzy. Unfortunately, that strike cost me the fight. Everyone saw how my first round was. Right from the start of the second, I was already on the ground. I couldn’t fight anymore, I just survived.”
Bueno Silva was on a roll before UFC 297
Before the loss to Pennington, Mayra Bueno Silva (10-3-1-1 NC) had a four-fight unbeaten streak, with three wins and one no contest. During that run, the 32-year-old scored wins over Wu Yanan, Stephanie Egger, and Lina Lansberg, but a submission win over former champion Holly Holm was overturned when the Brazilian tested positive for the banned substance Ritalinic Acid.
Bueno Silva had hoped to face Pena rather than Pennington at UFC 297
Before the title bout with Raquel Pennington, Bueno spoke about her reasons for preferring Julianna Pena to Pennington as an opponent.
“Like it or not, Julianna would be more exciting as a fight,” Silva said. “Not that Raquel is a bad athlete, but Julianna promotes fights better. Raquel is not that type of person, she doesn’t talk too much. She’s the type of athlete that likes to fight, and that’s it, so I was like, ‘Damn, I’ll have to try to promote this fight on my own.’ But my total focus is the best regardless.
“It’s hard to promote this fight, because my opponent isn’t one that likes to talk too much,” Silva added on being the co-main event for UFC 297 under Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis. “It didn’t disappoint me that there’s a fight after mine. This fight disappointed me because it’s a fight not many people want to see. To me, my fight is the main event.”
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