{"id":53840,"date":"2025-08-08T06:02:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/53840\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T06:02:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:02:08","slug":"raquel-pennington-sidelined-by-injury-before-noche-ufc-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/53840\/","title":{"rendered":"Raquel Pennington Sidelined By Injury Before Noche UFC 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t \"Raquel<\/a>October 5, 2024, Salt Lake City, Ut, Salt Lake City, Ut, United States: Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peo\u00c2a in a 5-round women\u00c3\u00e2\u00e2 s bantamweight title bout at the Delta Center for UFC307 – Pereira vs Rountree Jr. on October 5, 2024 in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. \/PxImages Salt Lake City, Ut United States – ZUMAp175 20241005_zsa_p175_597 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex\t\t\t \t\t\t <\/p>\n

Previous women\u2019s bantamweight gold standard Raquel Pennington has dropped out from her inclusion<\/a> at UFC Fight Night 259.<\/p>\n

Raquel Pennington Wanted to Rebound Since Losing Throne<\/p>\n

Originally gearing up for her first contest of 2025 against Norma Dumont, Raquel Pennington<\/a> announced on social media<\/a>\u00a0 that she had to bow out of the upcoming Noche UFC 3 card because of a lingering neck injury. Apparently dealing with said debilitation since her title-dropping scrap with Julianna Pe\u00f1a<\/a> last October at UFC 307, \u201cRocky\u201d made the decision to withdraw<\/a> from the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one\u2019s hard to say\u2026I\u2019ve been with the UFC for 12 years, 26 fights, and I\u2019ve never had to pull out of a fight,\u201d Raquel Pennington wrote. \u201cI\u2019ve been dealing with a neck injury for a while now. My last fight camp, I had a procedure in September just to get through it and step in that Octagon the beginning of October. This camp\u2026 it\u2019s just been one thing after another. I\u2019m a competitor through and through, but I also have to take care of my health if I want to keep doing this the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Raquel<\/a>October 5, 2024, Salt Lake City, Ut, Salt Lake City, Ut, United States: Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peo\u00c2a in a 5-round women\u00c3\u00e2\u00e2 s bantamweight title bout at the Delta Center for UFC307 \u2013 Pereira vs Rountree Jr. on October 5, 2024 in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. \/PxImages Salt Lake City, Ut United States \u2013 ZUMAp175 20241005_zsa_p175_597 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former women\u2019s bantamweight champion also apologized to both UFC fans and her originally scheduled adversary, Dumont, stating her desire to possibly rebook their clash for a later date, or to keep the Brazilian on the show with a new opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah\u2026 I\u2019m gutted to say I have to withdraw from this fight. Apologies to the fans, @ufc and my opponent @norma_dumont_mma I\u2019ll be back, and I still would love to share that Octagon with Norma when the time\u2019s right,\u201d Raquel Pennington continued. I\u2019m hoping she gets a replacement opponent and her opportunity to compete isn\u2019t stripped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumont On the Rise in Bantamweight Division<\/p>\n

Losing her last bout to Macy Chiasson back in 2022, Norma Dumont<\/a> has enjoyed a fabulous five-fight winning streak, taking home victories over distinguished opposition such as Karol Rosa, Germaine de Randamie and Irene Aldana. With the dissolution of the UFC\u2019s women\u2019s featherweight class a couple of years ago, Dumont (like several other notable athletes) opted to make the drop down to bantamweight, a weight category she had not competed in since 2020. The ten pound cut didn\u2019t seem to bother \u201cThe Immortal\u201d though, as she recorded two triumphs in 2024 at 135-lb, taking out the aforementioned de Randamie and Aldana.<\/p>\n

Her once-scheduled scrap with Raquel Pennington was likely to be a title eliminator for a future encounter with current champion Kayla Harrison. Although the pairing ultimately fell through because of an injury, Dumont still remains in a solid position to be assigned a number one contender\u2019s contest, as she stands at the fourth spot on the official bantamweight rankings. <\/p>\n

Should a new fight with Raquel Pennington not materialize, Dumont has a couple of high-profile foes she could contend against for her opportunity to contend for UFC gold, like Ketlen Vieira and Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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