Raquel Pennington questions Julianna Peña's not being in Utah early for UFC 307: 'Altitude is not a joke'

Raquel Pennington thinks Julianna Pena waiting until UFC 307 fight week to arrive in Salt Lake City could cost her.

Pennington (16-9 MMA, 13-5 UFC) defends her bantamweight title against Peña (12-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) co-main event at Delta Center. Peña told MMA Junkie she didn’t see a need to be in Utah weeks prior to prep for the elevation and that arriving Monday of fight week is good enough.

Upon hearing that, Pennington, who was born in and trains out of Colorado, thinks Peña made a mistake.

“Just being born and raised in altitude, yeah, I would say that’s a mistake,” Pennington told MMA Junkie. “Altitude is not a joke. It really does affect people. You know how many people come here to visit and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, we don’t understand why we’re feeling this or we’re feeling that and we’re just standing here.’ It’s the altitude, and then when you’re pushing your body to the limit, it plays a part.”

Pennington said she noticed a drastic difference between training in Colorado’s high elevation than other areas.

“I’m definitely thankful for it,” Pennington said. “I notice a big difference when I go anywhere else. Sometimes I have to really slow down and control my breathing because I feel like I’m actually getting too much air, and I kind of hyperventilate a little bit, so I have to train my breathing a little different. It’s something that I think every athlete should take into consideration, especially if you’re going to go push yourself to the limit.”

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