Broken leg forces Raquel Pennington out of planned UFC 219 title bout vs. Amanda Nunes

Raquel Pennington was slated to be the next title challenger for UFC bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes, but those plans have been shelved.

The UFC women’s bantamweight division doesn’t have that many viable (or available) title challengers for reigning champion Amanda Nunes, and now the situation has gotten even worse.

Nunes was slated to face Raquel Pennington at UFC 219 on December 30th, but Pennington suffered a broken leg while riding in an ATV. Combate first reported the news, and Pennington later spoke to Ariel Helwani about what happened.

“It happened four days ago,” Pennington said (via MMA Fighting). “I was on my yearly hunting trip with my uncles and cousins, we were hunting that morning and coming down from the mountain in our side-by-sides (ATVs). It was snowing and when we went to turn the side-by-side flipped. It threw me out the side the same time it was flipping and the roll cage caught my leg and pinned me. My cousin fell out the driver seat on top of me, crawled out the window, and lifted it the best he could so I could drag myself out.

“They rushed me to the hospital. Thank God for my tall hunting boots because it protected my leg from fully shattering, which if that happened I would have to get my lower leg amputated. Also, where my bone is broken is the main nerve to your foot; luckily, the feeling came back and I passed the test otherwise I would have [drop foot], never being able to control my foot again. My calf is totally smashed in. Had an MRI of my knee and lower leg, they were worried I tore everything. If I tore from behind the knee they can't fix it, but results came back and calf is just smashed bad. Should recover and in time the nerves will repair. So three to four month recovery.”

It’s more terrible injury news for Pennington (9-5), who has missed all of 2017 following surgery to repair a torn bicep. “Rocky” has not fought since her November 2016 win over Miesha Tate, which extended her impressive winning streak to four. The broken leg means that we won’t see her compete until well into 2018.

Scanning through the UFC rankings, the #4 ranked Pennington seemed the most logical choice for Nunes to fight, given Valentina Shevchenko’s planned drop to flyweight, Holly Holm’s potential showdown with Cris Cyborg at featherweight, and Julianna Pena’s pregnancy. Cat Zingano could be next in line, but she hasn’t won a fight since her non-title win over Nunes in 2014, and has been inactive for more than a year. Perhaps former Invicta FC women’s bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger, who challenged Cyborg for the featherweight belt at UFC 214, is a potential option for the Brazilian.

As for Nunes’ status at UFC 219, it looks like she won’t be on the card anymore, as her team told Guilherme Cruz they don’t expect “to book any other fight before the year is through, as Pennington was the only challenger that made sense to them.” If that’s indeed the case, then Nunes’ win over Shevchenko will represent her only appearance in 2017.