After a long saga with USADA and nearly four years removed for her last fight inside the octagon, Jessica Penne is set to return to action.
In her first fight since 2017, Penne (12-5) will face Hannah Goldy (5-1) at UFC 260 in March. MMA Junkie was first to report news of the pairing. Penne had recently been posting scenes from her training camp on social media.
A former title challenger (against Joanna Jedrzejczyk) in the UFC’s strawweight division, Penne’s journey back to the cage has been a stressful one to say the least.
A year ago, Penne accused the “High Sparrows” at USADA of trying to end her career, by “bullying” her to accept a four year suspension after failing a drug test for stanozolol. It was Penne’s second test failure under the USADA-backed UFC Anti-Doping Policy, with the first resulting in an 18-month suspension.
Eventually, Penne accepted a 20-month ban, which will allow the 38-year old to return this year.
When she does return, Penne will look to snap a three-fight skid that has left her winless since a 2014 split decision victory against Randa Markos. Following that date, Penne dropped her title shot to Jedrzejczyk, then lost follow-up fights against Jessica Andrade and Danielle Taylor.
After picking up a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, Goldy lost her debut to Miranda Granger later that year. She’ll be looking to return to the win column against Penne.
The second PPV card for the promotion in the month of March, UFC 260 is expected to take place on March 27. A venue/location has yet to be formally announced. As it stands, UFC 260 currently includes the following bouts:
Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Francis Ngannou – for the UFC heavyweight championship
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Brian Ortega – for the UFC featherweight championship
Jimmy Crute vs. Johnny Walker
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque
Jessica Penne vs. Hannah Goldy
