J. Penne sprained his ankle on Sunday morning (17). Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @jessicapenne
Ultimate lost a fighter for the second time in a row just hours before the start of an event. The middleweight champion, Robert whittaker was diagnosed with an abdominal hernia, underwent emergency surgery and had to be removed from the main fight of UFC 234 on Saturday (09). On Sunday morning (17), the day before UFC Phoenix, Jessica penne suffered an injury and his fight against Jodie Esquibel was cancelled.
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Through her Instagram, Jessica said that she suffered a sprained right ankle and was forced to leave the card. During light training on the morning of the event, Penne ended up turning her ankle with the full weight of herself and a training partner. She hoped it wasn't something that serious, but she was evaluated by doctors and was left out of UFC Phoenix.
“I don’t have many words to describe my emotions right now. I would like to apologize to my opponent, Jodie Esquibel, and her team, for our fight not happening. I'm really sorry, Jodie. I went for a light workout this morning and was doing some basic exercise sequences when I turned my ankle with the full weight of my body and that of my training partner. I immediately iced it and was hoping it wasn't that serious, but it soon became obvious that it was a bad sprain. The UFC medical team, alongside Sean Shelby, was in my room, and the decision that I couldn't fight was made together with my team. I had a grade 2 sprain and we will find out more (about the injury) after X-ray exams. I'm heartbroken, I know Jodie must be too. I hope the fight between us can be rescheduled as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for your support: it means more than you know,” Jessica posted.
Penne challenged for the strawweight belt in June 2015 at UFC Berlin, when she was knocked out by the champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the third round. Since then, Jessica has had two fights and was defeated by Jessica Andrade and Danielle Taylor. If she suffered another setback to Esquibel at UFC Phoenix, the fighter could be fired from Ultimate.
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