Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
After missing weight, Emily Whitmire was taken to the hospital and will no longer compete at UFC 248.
It seems Emily Whitmire’s weight cut was really a difficult one.
After the 28-year-old missed weight by 1.5 pounds and looked rather drained at the UFC 248 official weigh-ins, her opponent Polyana Viana wrote on Twitter that her fight was now cancelled because Whitmire had to be taken to the emergency room.
“ I just heard tha Emily is out of the fight with me today. I also heard she had to be taken to the ER. I hope she is alright and I wish from the bottom of my heart that she recovers from whatever it is that she is suffering from.
— Polyana Viana (@Polyana_VianaDF) March 7, 2020
Later on, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi confirmed the news on Twitter.
Emily Whitmire is out of her scheduled fight with Polyana Viana tonight at UFC 248, sources confirmed with ESPN. Whitmire missed weight Friday morning by 1.5 pounds and had medical issues, according to Viana’s social media postings. UFC 248 will move… https://t.co/apARPQ3pYM
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) March 7, 2020
Before UFC 248, Emily Whitmire (4-3) was tapped out by another Brazilian in Amanda Ribas’ Octagon debut, back in June 2019. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 28-year-old, with victories Jamie Moyle and Aleksandra Albu.
Without a suitable opponent on such short notice, Polyana Viana (10-4) was also removed from the card, without a chance to end her three-fight skid, with losses to J.J. Aldrich, Hannah Cifers and most recently, back in August 2019, Veronica Macedo. The 27-year-old’s last win came in her Octagon debut, when she tapped out Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson back in February 2018.
UFC 248 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 7. The card will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between the champion, Israel Adesanya, and challenger Yoel Romero. In the co-main event, strawweight champion Weili Zhang will take on former title holder Joanna Jedrzejczyk.