For countless MMA fans, their long national nightmare is over. Brittney Palmer is returning to the UFC.
UFC president Dana White, late Wednesday on the West Coast, sent an out-of-the-blue Tweet asking his nearly 1.7 million followers a simple question: “Should we bring back @BrittneyPalmer?” Within minutes, White had his answer, announcing that the popular Octagon Girl, who last worked a UFC event in July, was back.
Palmer joined the UFC in January with the official merger of the WEC into its big brother UFC. Palmer had been the WEC’s ring card girl during that promotion’s rise to prominence on the Versus cable channel. She joined UFC mainstays Arianny Celeste and Chandella Powell at UFC 125 on Jan. 1, giving the promotion three permanent Octagon Girls for the first time since 2009, when Celeste was flanked by Logan Stanton and Natasha Wicks.
But in July, a mild controversy brewed when Palmer announced she was moving from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area to attend art school. And for a short time, her profile was removed from UFC.com, sending fans into a tizzy, wondering why Palmer had been let go from the UFC.
Following the Twitter backlash, White told Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi after UFC 133 that Palmer had not been let go and that she still would be utilized by the UFC in other capacities while she pursued her dream of becoming an artist. “Nothing happened with Brittney Palmer,” White said, explaining that Palmer wanted to make a run at being an artist and didn’t want much public fuss over her decision. “Brittney’s moved on to other things. She’s living in L.A. now – she wants to be an artist, and she’s going to art school. … We have no problem with Brittney, Brittney is still friendly with the UFC, and it’s all good.”
There has been no word yet on when Palmer will make her return or for how long she might be back. But the UFC’s next two events are in California – UFC on Fox on Saturday in Anaheim, and UFC 139 next week in San Jose. So it is indeed possible Palmer fans may see her walking onto the weigh-ins stage alongside Celeste and Powell on Friday. A message to Palmer seeking comment was not immediately returned Thursday morning.
