Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2 may already have a new date.
Tonight (July 8), Nunes was set to defend her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight title against Shevchenko. The title bout was to serve as the main event of UFC 213 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It wasn’t meant to be as “The Lioness” pulled out of the fight due to an illness. Speaking to ESPN, UFC President Dana White explained what went wrong (via MMAFighting.com):
“So she [Nunes] did the weigh-ins yesterday – she made weight – she weighed in at ceremonial weigh-ins and squared off with Shevchenko, and then, went home last night. This morning she called again and said she didn’t feel good, so they brought her back in and started doing test on her and she said she didn’t want to fight. She was medically cleared to fight, she was checked and everything and was fine but she said she didn’t feel right.”
He went on to say that the title match could be rebooked for UFC 215 on Sept. 9 at the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
“She’s (Shevchenko) devastated, obviously. Not only go through a full camp but you come, the whole prep, cut the weight, you weigh in, and you go through everything, and the day of the fight, the fight is pulled out from you. So it’s very tough, but obviously, we’re going to take care of her and we’re going to look to make this fight again hopefully in Edmonton. We have a fight coming up in Edmonton, which I believe is in September, we’ll try to make the fight then.”
