Amanda Nunes Breaks Silence On UFC 213 Mess
Although last night’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, delivered a decent night of MMA action for fight fans in Sin City, most of the card’s momentum was obviously lost when women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes was hospitalized and out of her awaited rematch with Valentina Shevchenko for the title.
The scenario got a bit stranger when word arrived detailing the nature of Nunes’ ailment, where she apparently went to the hospital on both Friday and Saturday and was ultimately cleared to fight, but decided not to. This understandably angered Dana White, who explained that “The Lioness” had indeed been medically cleared to participate in the fight in an interview with FOX Sports 1:
Clearly disappointed at the harsh realization her biggest-ever fight was about to be called off for the time being, Shevchenko also expressed her frustration about the champion’s last-minute absence in a statement of her own, apologizing to her fans and vowing to stay ready for the fight, which was rumored by White to be rescheduled for September 9’s UFC 215 from Edmonton.
“The Lioness” then broke her silence on Twitter, apologizing to her ‘true fans’ and affirming she would be ready when the fight was back on:
Sorry to all my true fans. The fight will be rescheduled and I will be back at 100%. 🦁 Essa luta vai ser remarcada e estarei 100% pic.twitter.com/8WEttqMUgM
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) July 9, 2017
The apology is nice to be sure, but the fact remains a high-profile UFC pay-per-view main event was ruined at the absolute last minute due to what most believe are complications due to weight cutting, and that only serves to shed a light on the bigger, more overarching problem of extreme cuts in MMA, a nefarious aspect of the fight game that athletic commissions are finally taking seriously by making efforts to curb.
Nunes claimed the incident was not due to failing weight cut, but rather an illness she had the week leading up to the fight.
Nunes and Shevchenko will have their day in the octagon, but regardless of the exact reason why she withdrew from UFC 213, “The Lioness'” stock took a big hit even if she is the most dominant 135-pound female on the Earth.
