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| Raquel Pennington |
Last night the UFC announced that Julianna Pena suffered a serious knee injury and will be replaced by Raquel Pennington vs Jessica Andrade at UFC 17 Mar. 15 in Dallas. Today it has become apparent that this injury was the result of an assault. At first it was thought that Julianna was overtraining and her coach was guilty of not pacing her properly. This is a common problem in MMA. But UFC president Dana White said at today's UFC 169 media scrum in New York Julianna was assaulted by a male fighter who was also training at the gym. It seems she wore her The Ultimate Fighter shirt and he started berating her. Then he jumped on her back. and that's when she blew out her knee and her hamstring. Who knows if she will ever return from that? White thinks she'll be out for two years. Female fighters train with guys all the time. I don't recall anything like this ever happening. If true, this guy should be charged with assault and she should sue him and the gym. That kind of behaviour is ridiculous. EDIT: fighter Sam Sicilia has confirmed the coach's version of the story. Either way, it's the coach's responsibility to keep her healthy so it's his fault. Raquel Pennington beat Roxanne Modafferi on the TUF finale. I've seen some of her other fights and I think she's inconsistent. I think Jessica will be a good test for her as Jessica is very aggressive and likes to finish. This fight will be on the prelims.
While I am happy for Raquel. I agree with you Frank. Julianna should sue both the fighter and the gym big time, along the assault charge. That's a pretty bad deal. Two years? My heart goes out to her.
ReplyDeleteThe coach is still saying it was a training incident. It doesn't matter. it's his responsibility to keep her healthy so it's his fault.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It is his responsibility to keep her healthy, if he fails he is accountable and his fault. Time for a new coach for Raquel.
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