Raquel Pennington doesn’t agree with the judges’ ruling of her UFC women’s bantamweight fight against Julianna Pena.

Pennington believes she deserved to retain her title, but in the end she lost a  split decision in the co-main event of UFC 307 this past Saturday in Salt Lake City. Pennington (16-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) won one 48-47 scorecard but lost 48-47 to Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) on the two others.

Many fans agreed with Pennington and voiced their outrage on social media that the result went the other way. In an Instagram post Tuesday, Pennington addressed her defeat for the first time:

I’m home and I’m healthy. My heart hurts but my head is high! I do not feel I lost that fight but this is just another wild detour in this journey of mine. I will be back better than ever! I want the rematch stat! Regardless what an amazing fight week, surrounded by so much love, support and blessings. Memories that will last a lifetime. I’m full of gratitude and I want to send a shout out to all the people who stand behind me. My amazing group of coaches @jhostriking @jason_kutz @tylerlarsenbjj @mennyboy12 @antwon_burton3 and @evierae_jaktmuscle My training partners who put in work with me this camp Cory, @ryan.ashleigh and @jjaldrich My recovery team @sabrinabishopselman @cismrehab @peakbalancefamily My amazing management group @vaynersports @sarahzemonek @botemplin @kcoll0207 and my amazing wife @teciatorres and my entire family who has been my biggest support since day 1. To all my true fans out there I love each and every one of you. We will be back!!! ❤️🏆 #TeamRocky

The decision was highly controversial, with 25 media members scoring the bout for Pennington, one scoring it a draw, and one scoring it for Peña, according to MMADecisions.com.

With this result, Pennington, 36, saw her six-fight winning streak come to an end. She won the title that was vacated by Nunes when she defeated Mayra Bueno Silva by unanimous decision in January. But she failed to make a successful title defense Saturday.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Manchester City’s Jack Grealish believes he should have been part of England’s Euro 2024 squad and “can’t speak highly enough” of interim manager Lee Carsley.

Grealish, 29, was “devastated” after being omitted from Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the tournament, in which England lost to Spain in the final.

However, Carsley has started the City playmaker in both games he has overseen since replacing Southgate on a temporary basis.

“I will be honest with you – I didn’t really agree with it,” Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Grealish admitted he felt he “didn’t have the best season” for his club, but added: “You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.

“I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn’t meant to be.”

On whether he felt he had a point to prove on his return to the England squad for September’s internationals, he said: “Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well.

“I thank the manager Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.

“It obviously really meant a lot, I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.

“It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can’t speak highly enough of him since I have been here.”

England recorded 2-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the first games under Carsley last month, with Grealish scoring against the former.

A British record £100m signing when he joined City from Aston Villa in August 2021, Grealish will again hope to be in the starting line-up when England host Greece on Thursday, before taking on Finland on Sunday.

And while Grealish believes missing out on Euro 2024 was “probably the most difficult period of my life”, he said the birth of his daughter last week was “the best moment of my life”.

In an “unbelievable 24 hours”, Grealish had to leave training and take a train to London on Friday morning to be present for the birth, before flying to Newcastle – arriving after midnight – and starting for City in the Premier League at midday on Saturday.

“I don’t really know how to explain it, you know you feel so many good moments in your life but that just tops everything,” Grealish said.

Raquel Pennington wants to run it back with Julianna Pena.

Pennington lost the UFC women’s bantamweight title via split decision in the co-main event of UFC 307 this past Saturday in Salt Lake City. The decision was a controversial one, with a lot of people feeling like Pennington had done enough to retain the belt in her first defense.

On Tuesday, “Rocky” released a statement addressing the loss, and her desire to get a rematch.

“I’m home and I’m healthy,” Pennington said. “My heart hurts but my head is high! I do not feel I lost that fight but this is just another wild detour in this journey of mine. I will be back better than ever! I want the rematch stat! Regardless what an amazing fight week, surrounded by so much love, support and blessings. Memories that will last a lifetime. I’m full of gratitude and I want to send a shout out to all the people who stand behind me.”

Pennington and Pena were both competitors on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, which was ultimately won by Pena. The fight was competitive throughout, with Pena clearly winning the second and third rounds, while Pennington turned things around in the championship stanzas. The first round is what decided it, with two of the judges scoring it for Pena, who is now a two-time champion.

A rematch for Pennington is unlikely with fellow UFC 307 competitor Kayla Harrison earning a decision win over Kelen Vieira in the main card opener.

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has brushed off Joaquin Buckley’s callout.

Buckley (21-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) issued a challenge to Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) after scoring a third-round knockout of former title challenger Stephen Thompson on Saturday at UFC 307. Buckley is now 5-0 at welterweight in the UFC and was praised by Daniel Cormier for his callout. Usman dismissed Buckley but didn’t imply that he wouldn’t fight him if offered.

“Take a number and get in line,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “I believe he’s probably, what, the 10th, 11th guy? I don’t know how many guys have called me out. It is what it is. It’s obviously, like DC said, it’s a more reasonable callout for him because he is on the streak. He’s been doing good work inside there. I believe he was losing that fight, and it was just a way to be relentless and find the shot eventually to get that finish. So, you know, hats off to him.

“He did a great job. If that’s the fight, then that’s the fight. If it’s not, it’s not. Obviously right now I’m working on myself and trying to get myself back, because I’ve fought injured for so long to where I achieved all the things I’ve achieved, but at some point it does catch up to you. You have to sit down and correct some of those mistakes. But, like I said, I ain’t going nowhere. I’m still here, and eventually I will get in there and show the people that I am once again the king.”

Usman, 37, hasn’t competed since a majority decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight in October 2023. The short-notice setback to Chimaev was his third straight after suffering back-to-back title losses to Leon Edwards.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe is expected to be out for at least a month after sustaining a freak hand injury while doing the washing up.

The 26-year-old DR Congo international sustained a deep cut to his thumb while he was washing the dishes last week.

The former Manchester United and Aston Villa player had started the first six Premier League games of the season for promoted Ipswich before missing Saturday’s 4-1 loss to West Ham.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said on Saturday Tuanzebe’s injury was a “very unfortunate accident”.

“He’s naturally a miss with the way he’s started the season. He’s going to be out for a little while,” McKenna said.

Ipswich told BBC Sport the accident had occurred at home and Tuanzebe has had successful surgery.

Ben Johnson replaced Tuanzebe at London Stadium, where defeat left Ipswich still winless after seven league games.

Michael Bisping believes UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s strength of schedule is what makes him the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense in the span of seven months when he scored a fourth-round TKO of Khalil Rountree in Saturday’s UFC 307 main event. Pereira is currently No. 2 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings behind lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

“Pereira is going through everybody,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Three title defenses in seven months and taking the world by storm. So, if you go through the top 10, it’s really hard to deny Alex Pereira is No. 1.”

Bisping’s only asterisk on Pereira’s resume is that he’s yet to face a strong grappler during his title reign. However, he does commend “Poatan” for the fashion in which he’s been winning his fights, knocking out his past four opponents.

“He is very active. He is taking on the top competition,” Bisping said. “Yes, sure, granted, maybe Magomed Ankalaev should’ve been in there Saturday night, but he wasn’t. That’s not (Pereira’s) fault. You can’t hold that against him. But the people that he is beating, he’s doing it in sensational fashion, and he’s finishing them.

“And that’s partly what I want to see. To be pound-for-pound No. 1, you’ve got to be finishing people. You can’t be scraping by them with split decisions. You’ve got to do it in emphatic fashion, and I don’t think there’s anyone out there with the finishing ability of Alex Pereira. It is frightening what he can do.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.