of the third round. She tried to hit armbars and triangles from there, but Pennington easily worked out of them and scored with punches from the top. All three judges scored the fight for Pennington: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

"She is an idol to me and needs to keep her head up," Pennington said of Tate. "Everybody talks about how Ronda [Rousey] is the face of women's MMA. I think that Miesha is right there with her."

Fighting out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Pennington has quietly won her last four fights. Her last loss came via decision to Holm in February 2015; Pennington still believes she actually won that fight.

Born in Washington and fighting out of Las Vegas, Tate has been one of the most popular female fighters ever. She foughtformer UFC and Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey twice, in 2012 and '13, losing both times by armbar. After the second loss, Tate fought her way back to a title with four straight wins.

Tate publicly contemplated retirement last year when the UFC skipped over a promised title shot in order to book a fight between then-champion Rousey and Holm.