Among the UFC’s brightest young stars is injured, and as stated by the company president she is going to be out of commission for two years. It was revealed by UFC Tonight that TUF 18 winner Julianna Pena endured a catastrophic injury to her right knee during training that resulted in tears for her ACL, MCL, LCL, meniscus, and hamstring. MMAFighting.com reported the injury happened during a grappling session on Monday at Sikjitsu gym in Spokane, Washington. In accordance with UFC president Dana White, the injury is so severe that the 24-year-old Pena is expected to miss a couple of years of actions. She’s set to have surgery on the knee following week once the swelling goes down. This is quite sad news and everybody in the MMA world ought to want Pena a quick recovery as she embarks on what is going to be a dark period in her life as she will not have the ability to compete in the game she loves just at the time she was beginning to get really good at it. According to her official biography on UFC.com,» Pena said,»After I found MMA I understood it was the socket I needed and was searching for.» About fighting in the Octagon,» Pena said:»It means the world for me to be fighting in the UFC. This is as large as it gets, it doesn’t get any higher, and I have made it. It is a fantastic accomplishment for myself.» However, for the upcoming little while, she won’t have MMA in her life. Nicknamed»The Venezuelan Vixen,» Pena entered TUF 18 with a 4-2 record and has been matched up against veteran Shayna Baszler in the preliminary round after defeating Gina Mazany to go into the house. Despite being a large underdog into Baszler, Pena managed to rally after being early to conquer Baszer via second-round submission. She then submitted Sara Moras from the semifinals to earn a birth in the finale, and she won the show this past November with a dominating first-round TKO win over Jessica Rakoczy. Currently ranked in the top 10 of the women’s bantamweight division, Pena was set to face Jessica Andrade in UFC 171 this March prior to being forced to pull out with this knee injury. Andrade will now face Raquel Pennington. UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani managed to talk to Pena’s trainer at Sikjitsu, Rick Little, who said the injury Pena endured was the»most gruesome» he’d ever seen in sports. According to Little, Pena’s harm was the consequence of an over-aggressive training session, which seems odd given the severity of the injury. According to White’s tweet which»what happened at her gym is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard,» there’s obviously more to the narrative. There is already speculation that this was not just an crash, but that somebody at Pena’s camp held on to some entry too long, maybe a heel hook that’s highly frowned upon to perform while training with teammates. That is just speculation for the time being, however, although I don’t by for a moment that this injury was only an accident based on what White’s tweet. It was much more inclined carelessness was the trigger. This is very disappointing news as I think Pena was a upcoming title contender in the UFC women’s bantamweight division. Pena’s wrestling is excellent and she’s improving her overall game so quickly that she’d be a serious competitor for the UFC bantamweight title within the next two years. Remember her beef with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in the series meant she would have been pushed up the ladder faster than others. But this injury will obviously delay that opportunity to struggle for the belt, and it is possible the injury renders that fantasy impossible. For somebody who’s only 24, it is not reasonable that Pena has needed to cope with so many injuries and bad fortune as such a young age. Before TUF 18 was first filmed, Pena was involved in a horrible car accident that left her with a broken nose. She had also suffered a broken arm one of her fights, as well as the previous two ACL tears before in her career. But that’s life, and life isn’t fair. Pena was working as a waitress before TUF and also living at home with her family. Together with her career just about to remove, Pena was anticipating moving out and embarking on a promising career in the game. Now, she’ll be out sitting on the sidelines for around the next 24 month after suffering one of the worst knee injuries ever to a UFC fighter, and she will have difficulty making a living while doing so. I am hoping the UFC assists out Pena financially through her time off because, after all, she is an investment for the corporation. The UFC does have an insurance policy which should pay part of Pena’s operation, but it’s capped at $50,000 yearly and may not cover most Pena’s medical-related costs. So the UFC can do the right thing and help her out in her time of need. We get the full story about what happened to Pena shortly, but for now let’s all desire Pena great luck on her operation next week and let us hope she can conquer the projected two year layoff and return in the crate sooner than later because she is a tremendous fighter and has a bright future in the sport.

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