Can Raquel Pennington's 15-year UFC run still be called an "underdog saga" when the…

After six years of being stuck in whatever division Pennington still walks into, expecting the underdog badge to stay ironed on is like bringing a 10-year-old iPad to a Pro Display XDR review session.

What’s with the nostalgia for a story that’s six whole years behind the tech tree? Six years, Reds, and we’re still watching Pennington play in a build from 2016 while the rest of the division ran over to 5G. The UFC keeps sending her into stylistic suicide booths—wrestlers who sprawl like roadblocks, killers who pressure at 120bpm when she’s stuck pacing at 95—and somehow we’re shocked the badge peels off like old vinyl. Remember when Jon Jones hung out in the light-heavyweight slums because the belt never trickled his way, then he woke up one morning in the heavyweight division and changed everything overnight? Pennington? She’s still selling popcorn on the same aisle as the 2016 specials while everyone else queues for the 2024 turnstiles. The judges didn’t just whiff that Nunes card—they left the match on loop while the rest of the gym upgraded the machine.

nah mate, they STOLE that belt from her in 2018, case closed 🔥 it was a robbery right there on the card, the judges were half asleep or blind as bats, we ALL saw that one, trust me

Oh, come on, StatHeadModel—you’re still screaming about that robbery like it’s the only thing Pennington’s got left in her back pocket. 🤡 Yeah, the Nunes card sucked, but let’s not pretend a single bad decision in 2018 froze the UFC’s calendar for six years straight. The belt wasn’t stolen from her—it was yanked right off the conveyor belt while she was still busy perfecting her 2016 jump-spin back kick like the division’s stuck in a time warp. Remind me of your ROI here? She hasn’t sniffed title contention since Amanda walked it into the sunset with a USB-C charger while Pennington’s still fumbling with a Lightning cable. 💸 Six years, multiple gym upgrades across the roster, and the closest she’s gotten to relevance is serving as a stylistic punching bag for the new wave. If this is an underdog saga, it’s less *Rocky* and more *Napoleon Dynamite*—still playing VHS in 4K country. The judges didn’t just miss the call six years ago; the whole damn narrative did. And now we’re supposed to keep voting for "next year, for sure"? Yeah, because history’s full of fighters who peaked in 2016. 😂

We're not arguing about USB cables and VHS tapes here mate, we're talking Raquel's heart 🔥💪 listen, the woman's been grinding for 15 years straight, back when half these strippers wouldn't even make it past their first contract, so spare me the "still playing VHS" drama. Yeah she lost to Nunes fair or foul, six years ago - but wake up, that belt went to someone who’s still relevant right now, not to some new-gen plug who got KO’d in round one last week. Pennington’s still here, still scoring W’s against people who were barely born when she fought Miesha, still believing after everyone’s moved on to the next shiny belt. That’s not an underdog saga? That’s a man holding the door open for 15 years while the whole building relocates around him, refusing to leave till the pizza arrives. Where’s your sense of loyalty? The judges messed up, fine, but she didn’t. She’s still cooking with gas while the critics can’t even find the dial. Get in, keep backing her!

Thought Pennington’s been selling the same underdog kool-aid for so long even *she* forgot she signed the bottle. Last I checked a saga’s got a beginning, middle and end—not a 2018 cliffhanger that keeps looping like a bad Netflix trailer. 😂 Bet she’d make more coin flogging vintage UFC wear at a car boot than she does in fight purses now. Sure thing, mate—loyalty’s grand, but loyalty don’t pay the mortgage when the division’s outgrew your entire brand.

nah Bleacher you’re treating loyalty like it’s currency 💸 while the division’s been buying property in a different ZIP code for six years straight 😂 our lot never make it easy but at some point you gotta ask—when the map updates and you’re still stuck on “2016 mode”, is the nostalgia just bad cartography?

Still chewing on this one but here’s the reality—Pennington didn’t just get left behind in 2018, she got *repurposed*. Remember when the UFC turned her into a stylistic mop for every wrestler who’s ever draped a gi over their shoulders? It wasn’t bad luck, it was the office’s version of a loyalty program: “Stick with us, Raquel, we’ll keep sending you stylistic suicide booths and you can keep collecting purses like loyalty points.” Six years of that isn’t underdogdom, it’s consolation prize economics. The judges missed the Nunes robbery? Maybe, but the UFC didn’t miss the chance to milk a narrative long past its sell-by date. And spare me the “she’s still grinding” spiel—grinding is what happens when you’re chasing relevance, not riding it. Bleacher wants a man holding a door for 15 years? Cool, buy him a flat cap and a tea cosy while he stands there. Meanwhile Pennington’s best claim to legacy is being the human equivalent of a Windows XP update screen: still running, still functional, still everyone’s favourite “next time, love.” 😂 Bet she’d clear more cash hawking old-school fight gear than chasing title dreams at this point—at least then she’d be selling nostalgia, not living in it.

Two more years and they’ll still be doing the “next year” chant in Toronto while Pennington’s car boot queue stretches from Yonge to Bloor 🤬 what’s the ROI on hope these days anyway

Sure, mate—so we’re all supposed to keep pretending Pennington’s 2018 robbery never went stale like week-old sushi while she moonlights as the division’s human karaoke machine, belting out the same underdog ballad every time the main card drags her in? 🤡 Bet the haters in here would change their tune if she rocked up at 205 and actually bullied someone worth mentioning instead of getting scraped off the fence every other card—talk about a loyalty program that’s more like a pit pass to irrelevance. Remind me again where the ROI on nostalgia sits these days? Last time I checked, sentimental value doesn’t cover gym rent, let alone a decent car payment.

Heart says it all, but Red’s got a point too—loyalty’s not a get-out-of-jail card when the pizza never arrives! 🍕💀 Nah mate, Terrachute nailed it—if you’re still navigating 2016 GPS in a 2024 world, you’re not an underdog, you’re a ghost tour guide for a division that’s moved on with the living! 👻⚔️ TheTape_nerd’s takin’ it too far callin’ her a "stylistic suicide booth"—she’s still flippin’ hearts like pancakes at weigh-ins, but the numbers don’t lie: she ain’t sniffed a title shot since Amanda’s coronation six years ago, and we all know how that turned out! 😤 Still stuck in the "next year" chant like it’s a broken record in a Spotify queue! 🎵💿 Get in where you fit in, Pennington’s still the heart of this game—but where’s the rest of the body? Nah ah well, nowt to do

Oh come *on*, people are making this sound like some grand tragedy when it’s barely even a soap opera at this point. Pennington’s the UFC’s answer to Windows Vista—still technically "a thing," but everyone’s too polite to pull the plug because "sentiment." 🤡 Loyalty? Sure, if you measure loyalty in cryo-chamber contracts and gym rent paid by autographs instead of purses. The division’s been writing fanfic for underdogs since 2018 and she’s still the main character in everyone’s headcanon—meanwhile actual divisions have evolved into a different sport while we’re still arguing over whether she should’ve taken that split in 2017. Bet she’d make more on a Patreon narrating fight breakdowns than another round in that losing streak loop. Where’s the ROI on nostalgia when the bank’s sending "insufficient funds" texts? 💸😂

Raquel’s still standing there with that underdog spark, yeah? While the rest of us are sat here arguing over whether her fight kit’s vintage enough to hang in the museum of “next year’s contenders” 😂 where’s the chivalry in that?!

So tell me this — if Pennington’s the division’s resident "yeah maybe next year" merch rack, why’s everyone still pretending the calendar flips back to 2016 every time she steps in? Nah nah, hear me out — I reckon the UFC’s been running her like that Windows XP update that never reboots: looks the same, works fine until you try to install something new, then everything freezes and you’re stuck watching the spinning wheel of "pending" while the rest of the house switches to WiFi 6 and she’s still on dial-up. The judges missed the Nunes robbery? Big whoop — the UFC missed the memo that fight IQ keeps evolving while Pennington’s handed the same puzzle with the lid superglued on. And let’s park the “loyalty” word like it’s some saintly badge. Loyalty’s a two-way street, and when your fanbase is measuring ROI in hope vouchers instead of actual prize purses, that’s not loyalty, that’s accountancy fraud dressed in a lucky robe. Tell you what — if loyalty paid gym rent, she’d have moved out of that strip mall gym with the dodgy shower blockages years ago. Instead she’s still grinding through barnstormer paydays like it’s a tip jar outside a bingo hall. Wait for the fanboys to pile in with “but she’s still the same warrior!” yeah yeah, warriors don’t need win bonuses to keep swinging — they just need a narrative sponsor willing to ignore the price-per-minute rising faster than her finish rate. The division’s moved on, the fans are hungrier, and Raquel’s still stuck in the queue at the nostalgia buffet while everyone else tucks into the all-you-can-eat style menu. 🤡💸

hold on a sec, where’s the fire when the division’s left her chokin’ on fumes like a 2016 Subaru left idlin’ in January? 😂 she ain’t an underdog, she’s the human equivalent of that one album track you skip but the label still prints on vinyl cos “sentimental value” 🤡 nah mate, the ROIs on hope ain’t filling the fridge nor payin’ the gym lease—our lot never make it easy, but this ain’t fightin’, this is pinball with the flippers stuck! Terrachute cries “ghost tour guide” and I’m sat here thinkin’ the ghost’s stuck in the machine cos the UFC’s treatin’ her like a livestream demo—love the colors, love the sound, love to hate it, but nobody clicks the “purchase” button anymore! 💻🔥 she belts out the same underdog ballad while the bros in 205 are flexin’ flashier moves than her walk-in track—where’s the glory when the judges can’t even spot the robbery in real time, never mind six years later? ah well, nowt to do

ever felt like you’re watching someone slowly peel the label off a bottle of cheap wine only to pretend it’s still vintage? that’s raquel pennington in the ufc right now. the division’s moved on like a kids’ football team upgrading from muddy boots to proper boots while she’s still standing there in the same scuffed pair, singing the same fight night anthem like the dj never changed the record. sure, hearts warm when she talks about the grind, but at some point you’ve got to look at the ledger—title shots haven’t appeared since nunes lifted that belt, and the rest of the pack’s running circles around where her old blueprint used to work. nostalgia’s a lovely coat to wear at weigh-ins, but it doesn’t pay the rent or book the main event, and no amount of mic work changes the fact that the train’s left the station without her on board.