As the UFC returns to Las Vegas for UFC on ESPN 11, Raquel Pennington will take on Marion Reneau in a Bantamweight bout which promises to be an extremely interesting and exciting ordeal.

The bout guarantees an extremely close fight. However, for the sake of predictions, let us dive into the assets that each boasts of, and thus determine a winner.

For: Raquel Pennington

“Rocky” Penington is coming fresh off a loss at the hands of Holly Holm. However, while Holm looks to reduce her opponents to rubble with her deadly strikes, the bout with Pennington dragged on for its entirety.

This is because even though Penington did not manage to outstrike “The Preacher’s Daughter”, she held her position in clinch quite effectively. And the clinch is where she overpowers most of her opponents. But, couldn’t do so with Holm owing to her incredible strength.

Penington employs a style where she puts a lot of forward-pressure on her opponents. Her grappling tends to dominate over most opponents, including the legendary Miesha Tate.

She has fought the who’s who of the promotion and therefore comes in with the experience of fighting the best out there.

In contrast to Marion, her technique of pushing forward and clinching will play a great role in securing a possible victory. However, an experienced BJJ practitioner herself, Marion will not make ground-game as easy for Pennington as she would like it to be.

For: Marion Reneau

The 43-year-old will aim to snap her 2-fight loss streak this Saturday.

Right off the bat, she holds much more variety in her style that Pennington. Her wins comprise of a mixture of submissions and KOs.

Thus, her stand-up game is pretty solid. Moreover, she dishes out some extremely heavy shots making her swift combos an extremely essential aspect to be wary of.

On the ground, she invites opponents to make her lay on her back. This is because she always strives to use her impeccable Jiu-Jitsu, in which she holds a black belt.

Thus, she will be extremely competitive, if not better than Pennington, on the ground. Her defense both on the ground and standing up is remarkable.

However, her defensive stance might cause a shortcoming against the overly aggressive Pennington.

Prediction: Marion Reneau vs Raquel Pennington

While Pennington definitely has an advantage, what with her style and clinch technique, Marion should be able to counter that with her ability to overpower in skill.

The fight will be extremely close and definitely filled with scrambles on the ground and multiple clinches. However, The Belizean Bruiser’s erratic and devastating strikes might help her gain the edge over Pennington.

Result: Reneau wins via unanimous decision.