Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana are on different paths in their respective careers. One is on a surge while the other has been unsuccessful as of late, and their July 20 fight at UFC on ESPN 4 could be pivotal to their careers. Take a glimpse of that encounter through the numbers below.
Age and overall experience
Aldana and Pennington are quite evenly matched in terms of age and time spent inside the cage. Born on March 26, 1988, Aldana is 31, just a few months older than Pennington who will celebrate her birthday on Sept. 5.There isn’t much that separates them when it comes to experience. Pennington was the first to accept a professional fight on March 3, 2012, beating Kim Couture by TKO at an event called MFP - Vengeance. Then on Oct. 17, 2012, it was Aldana’s time. She defeated Sandra del Rincon in only 15 seconds at GEX - Old Jack's Fight Night.
Now, Aldana holds a record of 10-4, most notably fighting at Invicta FC before the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Meanwhile, Pennington has a 9-7 ledger and has also fought at Invicta FC. She was also part of The Ultimate Fighter 18, where he reached the semifinals, losing to Jessica Rakoczy.
Active winning streak
After dropping two straight to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Chookagian, Aldana bounced back by racking up three consecutive victories at the expense of Talita Bernardo, Lucie Pudilova and Bethe Correia. It’s been the opposite for Pennington, who after beating Jessica Andrade, Bethe Correia, Elizabeth Phillips and Miesha Tate, has suffered recent losses to Amanda Nunes and Germaine de Randamie.Wins by knockout
Aldana started her career with three quick knockouts, landing fight-ending strikes on del Rincon, Flor Saenz and Mayra Arce. Later on, she starched Jessamyn Duke and Faith McMah to earn a total of five wins by KO or TKO. Meanwhile, Pennington has one knockout win on her resume, which was her second-round TKO of Couture.Wins by submission
Pennington and Aldana have three submission wins apiece. Pennington has tapped out Raquel Pa'aluhi, Ashlee Evans-Smith and current UFC women’s strawweight champion Andrade. Aldana, on the other hand, has submitted Peggy Morgan, Colleen Schneider and most recently, Correia.Career losses
Between the two opposing fighters, it’s Pennington who has the more substantial resume, having faced higher-level competition. Her first four losses came at the hands of current or former UFC champions Nunes, Holly Holm, Andrade and de Randamie. She has also lost to former UFC title challenger Cat Zingano, Smith and Tori Adams.As for Aldana, she has four defeats in her resume. She also has a loss to Smith as well as Larissa Pacheco, Chookagian and Tonya Evinger.