Raquel Pennington Reportedly Broke Leg After Agreeing To UFC Title Fight
Top UFC women’s bantamweight contender Raquel Pennington was reportedly set for the biggest bout of her mixed martial arts (MMA) career, but apparently, that will have to wait until next year.
According to a report from Combate.com, Pennington accepted a fight with current UFC women’s 135-pound champion Amanda Nunes at December 30’s UFC 219 from Las Vegas, but then broke her leg in a car accident yesterday (Wed., October 25, 2017) in Colorado. The report offered no specifics on Pennington’s injury and expected recovery time.
The bout had not been officially announced by the UFC, but Nunes and Pennington had supposedly both agreed to the bout’s date and location. Nunes was not given a replacement opponent as of this writing and will apparently wait until 2018 for her next fight.
It’s another disappointing setback for the previously surging Pennington, who has been out of action with a series of injuries since her unanimous decision win over former champion Miesha Tate at November 2016’s UFC 205, her fourth straight win in a row.
She was set to take on her biggest-ever challenge in the surging Nunes, who, despite criticism of her controversial UFC 215 decision win over rival Valentina Shevchenko, has defended the women’s bantamweight belt two times.
Clearly the most deserving contender in a contender-starved women’s bantamweight division, Pennington’s return will now extend well into 2018, leaving her out of action for going on a year-and-a-half when she returns.
