Nicco Montano has been stripped of her flyweight championship after being pulled from the UFC 228 co-main event against Valentina Shevchenko. Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports broke the news moments ago via Twitter:
BREAKING: Dana White tells @TSN_Sports that the UFC women's flyweight title is now vacant.
Valentina Shevchenko will fight an opponent to be determined at a later date. They have an opponent in mind, but nothing is confirmed.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 7, 2018
The report also discloses that Valentina Shevchenko will be competing for the vacant flyweight championship against an opponent to be determined at a later date. This should serve to simmer the steam that Shevchenko released in her statement earlier today that accused Montano of being “unprofessional” for deliberately planning to pull out of the fight at the last minute.
Nicco Montano won the flyweight championship at the TUF 27 Finale last December against Roxanne Modafferi and has since been dealing with injury concerns, primarily a broken foot, that has prevented her from defending the flyweight championship. Nicco Montano is the second consecutive inaugural champion of a women’s division to be stripped of her championship without having defending it, with the first being Germaine de Randamie (featherweight championship).
Ever since her destruction of Priscila Cachoeira in February, Valentina Shevchenko has made one thing crystal clear: she wanted a flyweight title shot and would settle for nothing less. So as Nicco Montano was recovering from injuries, Shevchenko remained patient, steadfast in her desire to become champion in what she has called her natural weight class. It seems she will be getting that opportunity after all, with or without Nicco Montano.
Do you believe stripping Nicco Montano was the right thing for the UFC to do?
