Former girls’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington has been pressured out of her scheduled matchup in opposition to Norma Dumont at Noche UFC 3 scheduled on Sept. 13 in San Antonio.
Pennington revealed the unlucky information in a submit on Instagram late Wednesday evening.
“This one’s onerous to say…I’ve been with the UFC for 12 years, 26 fights, and I’ve by no means needed to pull out of a battle,” Pennington wrote. “Most of I’ve been coping with a neck damage for some time now. My final battle camp, I had a process in September simply to get by it and step in that Octagon the start of October. This camp… it’s simply been one factor after one other.
“I’m a competitor by and thru, however I additionally should deal with my well being if I wish to preserve doing this the best means. So yeah… I’m gutted to say I’ve to withdraw from this battle. Apologies to the followers, UFC and my opponent Norma Dumont. I’ll be again, and I nonetheless would like to share that Octagon with Norma when the time’s proper.”
Pennington didn’t clarify the precise damage she suffered or how lengthy she’s anticipated to stay out of motion.
The information comes with Pennington already out of motion for practically a 12 months together with her most up-to-date look coming in October 2024 when she misplaced a detailed determination to Julianna Pena in a battle that value her the UFC girls’s bantamweight title.
Previous to that setback, Pennington had rattled off six straight wins together with her victory over Mayra Bueno Silva to assert the vacant title after Amanda Nunes retired.
Now it seems Pennington should wait till a good later date to make her return to motion.
As for Dumont, it’s additionally powerful information for her as she was looking for the largest alternative of her profession with an opportunity to probably earn a title shot of her personal with a win. Dumont has received 5 fights in a row with an 8-1 resume in her previous 9 outings as she continued to climb the rankings.
With Pennington out, Dumont has to hope the UFC can discover her an appropriate substitute as she’s additionally been out of motion for practically a 12 months.
The upcoming Noche UFC 3 card is headlined by a featherweight showdown as one-time title challenger Diego Lopes takes on rising star Jean Silva in a five-round battle.
