Previous women’s bantamweight gold standard Raquel Pennington has dropped out from her inclusion at UFC Fight Night 259.
Raquel Pennington Wanted to Rebound Since Losing Throne
Originally gearing up for her first contest of 2025 against Norma Dumont, Raquel Pennington announced on social media 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 Peña last October at UFC 307, “Rocky” made the decision to withdraw from the event.
“This one’s hard to say…I’ve been with the UFC for 12 years, 26 fights, and I’ve never had to pull out of a fight,” Raquel Pennington wrote. “I’ve 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… it’s just been one thing after another. I’m 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.”
The former women’s 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.
“So yeah… I’m gutted to say I have to withdraw from this fight. Apologies to the fans, @ufc and my opponent @norma_dumont_mma I’ll be back, and I still would love to share that Octagon with Norma when the time’s right,” Raquel Pennington continued. I’m hoping she gets a replacement opponent and her opportunity to compete isn’t stripped.”
Dumont On the Rise in Bantamweight Division
Losing her last bout to Macy Chiasson back in 2022, Norma Dumont 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’s women’s 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’t seem to bother “The Immortal” though, as she recorded two triumphs in 2024 at 135-lb, taking out the aforementioned de Randamie and Aldana.
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’s contest, as she stands at the fourth spot on the official bantamweight rankings.
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 Peña.
