JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Raquel Pennington has been around the block, but thinks the time is now for her name to start being mentioned once again as a contender.

At UFC 273 as a short-notice replacement, Pennington (14-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) defeated Aspen Ladd via split decision to extend her winning streak to four. Immediately thereafter, Pennington called her shot. She wants a matchup against Olympian Sara McMann, which could “absolutely” be a title eliminator, in Pennington’s estimation.

McMann, 41, is a former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger, who has won two of her most recent three fights including a recent victory over Karol Rosa.

“I respect Sara a ton, as a person and as an athlete,” Pennington told reporters including MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference Saturday. “As far as climbing in these rankings and stuff, it honestly makes sense. You pull up the amount of wins, it was Amanda leading and then it was me and Sara. Amanda and Julianna are fighting for a world title. The other girls ranked above are lined up right now.

“I feel like Sara and I make sense. We were originally supposed to fight on ‘Fight Island’ back in September of 2020. I sustained an injury that pulled me from that fight. You know, it’s no disrespect to her. It just makes sense if you want to climb up here.”

Pennington, who challenged then-champion Nunes for the promotion’s women’s bantamweight strap at UFC 224 in May 2018, thinks at this point in time she’s putting forth the best performances of her entire career.

“For one, I’ve had the highest of highs and lowest of lows in this sport,” Pennington said. “… Finally, I just got to a point where I was like, ‘It’s about longevity and really what I want to do here.’ I had to sit back and reset and that’s what I did. I switched up my team. I switched up a lot of things, nutrition, all kinds of things to figure out my medical state, figure my physical state. I spent a lot of time. I had to learn true patience. That was really hard.

“Just kind of doing that, now I feel the healthiest I’ve ever been. I’m in my prime. I’m excited and I’m hungry. My coaches have always told me, ‘When you let that person go that we see every single day in the gym, nobody is going to stop you.’ I’m only getting more and more comfortable in my skin with things and my hands and every technique that I have. Now, I’m on a mission.