Ailin Perez (12-2) has thrown her name into the mix to fight Norma Dumont (12-2) after former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington was forced to withdraw from the upcoming Noche UFC 3 fight card in September.
Pennington made the announcement on Instagram, stating:
““This one’s hard to say…I’ve been with the UFC for 12 years, 26 fights, and I’ve never had to pull out of a fight.I’ve been dealing with a neck injury for a while now. My last fight camp, I had a procedure in September just to get through it and step in that Octagon the beginning of October. This camp… it’s just been one thing after another.I’m a competitor through and through, but I also have to take care of my health if I want to keep doing this the right way.So yeah… I’m gutted to say I have to withdraw from this fight. Apologies to the fans, @ufc and my opponent @norma_dumont_mma I’ll be back, and I still would love to share that Octagon with Norma when the time’s right. I’m hoping she gets a replacement opponent and her opportunity to compete isn’t stripped.Thank you to everyone who rides with me through the highs and the lows. It means more than you know. ❤️Setbacks don’t break me — they build me.”
Then Perez, who is known for twerking her assets both in and out of the octagon, took advantage of the situation and asked Dumont if she was scared of a booty battle?
“Raquel Pennington is injured and out of the Norma fight. Now Norma won’t face me at UFC Rio. What’s the deal, Norma? You don’t want to go five rounds with me in Brazil? Scared of a booty battle?”
Perez later said “Norma Dumont blocked me and has not made a response yet 🤣 No one who wants to fight you has a better ranking than me, what is your excuse now? We have the same record and same win streak. You are SCARED.”