The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 winner Julianna Pena is now out of her scheduled match with Jessica Andrade at UFC 171 due to serious injuries suffered in training. The injuries – tearing her ACL, MCL, LCL and her meniscus, amongst other things – are so serious that she may not be back until after UFC 200. UFC President Dana White was irate, and tweeted as such.
Jessica Pena injured, Raquel Pennington replaces her vs. Jessica Andrade
What happened to @VenezuelanVixen at “her gym” is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. Ranked #10 out for 2 years. #leavethatgymnow
— Dana White (@danawhite) January 30, 2014
With the “Venezuelan Vixen” out for the foreseeable future, the UFC has announced her replacement at UFC 171 against Andrade via Twitter. Stepping in will be fellow Team Tate member Raquel Pennington.
.@VenezuelanVixen out of #UFC171, fellow TUF alum @RockyPMMA steps in to face @JessicaMMAPro. http://t.co/aiCHHlZx0t pic.twitter.com/Qyrz5DUiLT
— UFC (@ufc) January 30, 2014
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington (4-3) first came to the attention of UFC fans as a member of the Ultimate Fighter Season 18, ultimately making it to the semi-finals before losing to eventual runner-up Jessica Rakoczy. The no-nonsense Pennington would then rebound with a hard-fought decision victory over Roxanne Modafferi at the TUF 18 finale, and is now looking to make it two in a row. Will “Rocky” be able to stop the aggressive “Bate Estaca” and gain her second UFC win?
Jessica “Bate Estaca” Andrade (10-3) is part of the aggressive Brazilian contingent in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. Though she’s a proven finisher, Andrade’s last fight saw her win a dominant decision victory over the ultra-tough Rosi Sexton. With the women’s 135 lbs. division still sorting itself out, it would only take a couple of wins for Andrade to position herself into title contention. Can she get there at the expense of “Rocky?”
UFC 171 goes down March 15th at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, TX. The main event features Johny Hendricks taking on Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Title. Stay tuned to MMASucka.com for more on this and other events.
