Mayra Bueno Silva is set to fight Raquel Pennington for a vacant bantamweight title at UFC 297, but she also has plans to defeat Julianna Peña and settle a personal score in the future.
Mayra Bueno Silva is set to fight Raquel Pennington for the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 297 on Jan. 20, despite testing positive for a banned substance recently. This fight comes after her submission win over Holly Holm was overturned due to the positive test. However, former champion Julianna Peña, who publicly criticized the vacant title fight and called Bueno Silva a cheater, was not chosen to fight for the title.
Bueno Silva expressed her animosity towards Peña, stating that it is the brash attitude of “The Venezuelan Vixen” that gets on her nerves. She plans to “humiliate” Peña should they fight and even went as far as to say, “I will kill you” during an appearance on The MMA Hour. She also accused Peña of using mental health issues to promote herself, stating, “When you talk about mental health, you show you’re not good people.” Bueno Silva also praised the UFC for their help with her case and expressed her gratitude towards the promotion.
Despite the animosity towards Peña, Bueno Silva remains focused on her upcoming fight against Pennington. She plans to defeat Pennington and then have her first title defense against Peña. Silva began her MMA journey with the goal of losing weight and now finds herself on the brink of being recognized as the best in her division. However, she stated, “I will think about my life when I finish Julianna Peña. This thing starts when I finish Julianna Peña, because my focus is on Raquel, but my belt is really my belt when I finish Julianna Peña.”