Julianna Pena is going to be sidelined for a long time after suffering a traumatic knee injury in training. Pena, the first ever female Ultimate Fighter winner, suffered a torn MCL, ACL, LCL, meniscus and hamstring, forcing her out of her UFC 171 bout.
The injury came while Pena was grappling with a male teammate at her gym, something that seems to have UFC president Dana White extremely upset:
Rick Little, owner of Sik-Jitsu Fighting Systems, which houses Pena as well as former TUF winner Michael Chiesa responded by telling White in a tweet “that gym handed u 2 ultimate fighters raised from teenagers created from scratch, there is a reason she destroyed evry1 in UFC.” Little followed up with “It’s funny how Dana and every1 thinks elite girls train with a room of girls, they train with men. & Julianna trains hard, ask anyone on TUF.”
The UFC no doubt wanted to build up Pena, an exciting fighter in a difvision that could use some fresh, popular challengers. But White’s frustrations may be a little misplaced, injuries are a part of the game and there simply aren’t gyms where WMMA fighters are able to train with a ton of high level female partners. Training with men is just part of the game right now.