Jessica Penne Releases Photo Of Injury That Forced UFC Phoenix Withdrawal

Tonight’s (Sun., February 17, 2019) UFC on ESPN 1 from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, got some unfortunate news when Jessica Penne was forced out at the last minute today.

Some speculated that Penne’s late pullout was due to her missing weight for her preliminary card bout versus Jodie Esquibel. However, news soon broke that the two were unrelated. The former UFC title challenger had actually her ankle after her warmup this morning.

The fight’s last-minute withdrawal from the card was bad news for both women. Penne needed a win very badly after three straight losses and almost two years out of action. Esquibel did as well after two straight losses of her own. It wasn’t meant to be, however.

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Penne’s Proof

After the disappointing news broke, Penne reacted to the situation with a statement on her official Instagram that included a photo of her badly swollen ankle. Read the statement and then check out the injury below:

“I don’t have a lot of words to describe my emotions at the moment. I want to apologize to my opponent @jodieesquibel and her camp for this fight not happening today. I’m truly very sorry Jodie. I went to do a small shakeout this morning and was working some basic drills when I rolled my ankle with the full weight of my body and my training partners. I immediately iced it and was hoping that it wouldn’t be that bad but it became obvious very quickly that this was a bad sprain.

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“The ufc medical team along with Sean Shelby came to my room and the decision was made along with my team that I couldn’t fight. I have a grade 2 sprain and will know more after x-rays. I’m heart broken and I know Jodie must be as well. Hopefully Jodie and I can be rebooked ASAP. Thank you to everyone for the support, it means more than you know.”

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