Nicco Montano Finally Set For First Title Defense

Women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano will finally defend her title for the first time.

Following a highly-publicized back-and-forth with former women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that Montano will meet “Bullet” at September 8’s UFC 228 from American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Montano has been out of action since she won the title over short-notice replacement Roxanne Modafferi at last December’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale. She defeated Lauren Murphy, Montana De La Rosa, and Barb Honchak during the show to earn her spot in the championship bout.

Shevchenko famously lost two ultra-close bouts to current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes after beating former champion Holly Holm, prompting a move down to a more natural weight class of 125 pounds for the Muay Thai standout.

She was then scheduled to meet UFC debutee Priscila Cachoeira earlier this year, resulting in one of the more controversial fights of 2018 when a grossly overmatched Cachoeira was viciously beaten by Shevchenko while embattled referee Mario Yamasaki refused to stop the bout.

There is still no main event announced for UFC 228 as of this writing.