Raquel Pennington Talks Cards and Collecting
It’s a common platitude to call a UFC fighter a “warrior” or a gladiator, ready to bite down on their mouthpiece and move forward through a storm of flying fists and fingerless gloves, willing to go out on their shield. Still, when it comes to former bantamweight champ Raquel Pennington, it’s all true and 100% accurate.
Over the last decade-plus and since participating in the first all-female The Ultimate Fighter show, Pennington has participated in the most fights since the female bantamweight division was introduced and now holds almost every meaningful record in the division’s history. It wasn’t easy. It was a grind. She’s walked the razor’s edge, going up against a murderer’s row of historic women fighters, racking up plenty of wins and losses, but always moving forward, evolving, and eventually, becoming champion.
“Rocky” may have lost her title to Julianna Peña in an excruciatingly close split decision at UFC 307, but in her typical fashion, she made the judge’s decision an argument. Nearly every media score had her winning the fight, dropping Peña, and doing significant damage. She’s constantly evolved over her 21 UFC fights and will no doubt continue her trajectory at the top of the division regardless of a W or L in the results column.
We were lucky enough to sit down with her for a few minutes to reflect on her rise to the top, pick her brain on what it’s like to go from a fan to the top of one of the biggest sports in the world and hold her very own Topps cards in her hands.
What’s your first memory of holding a trading card featuring yourself?
It was probably shortly after The Ultimate Fighter, and I remember the first card I received from a fan showing me fighting Roxanne Modafferi. It was just super cool to see. So I bought a shadow box, like the card shadow boxes, with all the different slots and started trying to collect my cards.
2014 Topps UFC Champions #179 Raquel Pennington
Is there any particularly favorite card of yours that you have?
Not really. They all are so different, so it’s really cool to see the differences in them, the different photos that come on them, and the different colors. I’ve been into the ones I’ve recently been signing; those have been super neat.
2024 Topps UFC Knockout is out now, featuring you in an extremely rare one-of-one. It’s an auto relic, and you’ve inscribed it, “Head up, heart strong.” Can you tell us about that phrase and what it means to you?
“Head up, heart strong” is something that I’ve always said, you know? I mean, I always tell people that the best thing you can do in life is keep your head up and then keep your heart strong, whether you’re going through real-life issues or life in general. I’ve been a coach, so I tell a lot to my athletes and stuff like that, and it’s just something my mom and I have tattooed across our feet. It’s just a phrase that touches my heart.
Life hits you, and it gets you down and whatnot. And the biggest thing is you always got to keep your head up. You keep your head up and keep your heart strong. And wonderful things are coming, you know? Life will have a way of hitting you and whatnot, but everything tends to work out as long as you take that positive outlook on it. It’s easy for humans to get wrapped up in negativity. And so it’s the same thing when we’re going through a weight cut. You know, we say strong mind, strong body, so anything in life, head up, heart, strong.
2024 Topps UFC Knockout 1 2 Combo Relic Autographs #OTC-RPN Raquel Pennington
What’s holding a championship belt and a stack of your cards like?
It’s incredible to see where my journey and passion have brought me to attain a world title, which is the ultimate goal. Having cards created of my moments in the sport represents so many different stepping stones throughout my career.
Are you setting any of your cards aside for your daughter?
Yeah, absolutely. Tisha and I have so many different pieces of memorabilia and cards. Our storage room is filled with totes of the gear through the years, and all the different swag that’s come out. Whether it’s just a photo shoot and pictures or the cards we’ve been collecting of ourselves and fans will give us when they have extra ones. All of it is something that we get to cherish, and then we also get to show our daughter.
Is there anything else that you like to collect, sports memorabilia-wise?
I have, like, old-school jerseys. My heart, my number one passion, was basketball. So I love basketball jerseys and stuff. But ever since I’ve been fighting, I don’t know, it’s just the little things. I like, you know, I have baseball caps. I love hats and stuff, so I feel like I’ve just transitioned throughout the years, and then, for the most part, I’ve been so focused on fighting the memorabilia pieces that come with that.
2024 Topps Midnight UFC Raquel Pennington Stroke Of Midnight
Is there any sports hero of your own that you would like to collect cards of?
I think I’m at a point now where if I would want anybody’s cards, it would be from this contemporary moment in my career. This is what my life looks like now; this is my journey. I want to remember this moment and the athletes who were competing and fighting at this exact moment.
Favorite athlete who’s not a fighter?
I feel like my favorite athletes are all retired: Michael Jordan and then—rest his soul in peace—Kobe. I’ve always appreciated Cheryl Swoops. I’m a fan of Caitlin Clark. She’s kicking ass in her basketball career now. She’s my favorite current non-fighter athlete. I really enjoy what she’s doing.
2023/24 Boman U Now® Basketball #61 Caitlin Clark
