Tag: Amanda Nunes

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 […]

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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 exact 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:

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 and Shevchenko will have their day in the octagon, but “The Lioness’” stock took a big hit even if she is the most dominant 135-pound female on the Earth.

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Dana White: No More Main Events For Champion Amanda Nunes

UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Nunes’ ‘refusal’ to fight means she will not get another headline slot in the UFC as champion Nunes’ withdrawal from the main event at the 11th hour of Saturday’s UFC 213 card did not go down well with White (h/t MMAJunkie): “I won’t main event that title again,” […]

UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Nunes’ ‘refusal’ to fight means she will not get another headline slot in the UFC as champion Nunes’ withdrawal from the main event at the 11th hour of Saturday’s UFC 213 card did not go down well with White (h/t MMAJunkie): “I won’t main event that title again,” […]

UFC 213 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Romero vs. Whittaker Card

Well, this was an interesting one.
Hours before UFC 213 was set to go down in Las Vegas, one half of the evening’s main event, women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes, was confirmed out of her bout with Valentina Shevchenko.
Nunes was hospitalized with…

Well, this was an interesting one.

Hours before UFC 213 was set to go down in Las Vegas, one half of the evening’s main event, women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes, was confirmed out of her bout with Valentina Shevchenko.

Nunes was hospitalized with undefined illness and ruled out of the contest, leaving a charismatic challenger in Shevchenko without a dance partner and moving the co-main event between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker into the prime slot.

So here we are. Without a potentially great champion in Nunes to headline the card, would UFC 213 survive? It’s an especially pertinent question when you remember this card also lost Cody Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw and Donald Cerrone vs. Robbie Lawler. 

As always, the final stat lines don’t reveal everything. These are the real winners and losers from July 8 in Las Vegas.

For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear at the end.

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Valentina Shevchenko Reacts To Amanda Nunes’ UFC 213 Withdrawal

Only hours before the fight was set to go down, the MMA world was dealt a disappointing blow earlier today (Sat., July 8, 2017) when it was announced that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes had been hospitalized and was out of her title fight versus Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of tonight’s UFC […]

The post Valentina Shevchenko Reacts To Amanda Nunes’ UFC 213 Withdrawal appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Only hours before the fight was set to go down, the MMA world was dealt a disappointing blow earlier today (Sat., July 8, 2017) when it was announced that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes had been hospitalized and was out of her title fight versus Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of tonight’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas.

The two top-ranked women’s bantamweights in the world by a solid margin, Nunes and Shevchenko have a long history with each other after their initial match at last year’s UFC 196, a fight which “The Lioness” won on the scorecards but was in trouble as she gassed in the third and final round, opening up the opportunity for “Bullet” to score enough that most feel she would have finished the fight where it a five-round affair.

That fight made the rematch one of the best and closely-contested affairs of a down 2017 for the UFC, so losing it naturally threw fans into an upheaval.

And Shevchenko understandably feels the same way, as she was set for the biggest fight of her long and decorated martial arts career after she won her way back to a rematch with Nunes, this time for the belt, by defeating Holly Holm and Julianna Pena. She released a statement containing her reaction on her official Instagram this evening:

“Today I am 100% ready for this fight. During the last 3 months of training I did everything to be in my best shape for this fight.  Nunes couldn’t cut weight correctly and was hospitalized. She wanted to cut weight and recover rapidly to have the advantage. The end result, everything went wrong.  Even though she was medically cleared to fight, she backed out.  This fight was originally offered to take place in April and she would not accept then.

“I did my part and am very upset that I can’t fight for the title today on this great event.  I am even more upset for all my dear fans who support me every time throughout the world and to those who traveled to see me fight here in Las Vegas live.  I feel frustrated about what happened but I won’t relax, will not put down energy in my preparation, and will wait until the UFC gives us another date for the fight.”

Photo: Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports

“Bullet” is admittedly frustrated at the situation, where the rising Russian had many fans coming from far-off locales to see her fight in Las Vegas, costing them much of their time and hard-earned money for what amounted to nothing more than disappointment.

The same could be said for herself, as she was headed for by far the biggest payday of her four-fight UFC career in a bout that could have seen her accomplish her ultimate goal. She should have another chance soon, however, as UFC President Dana White hinted that Nunes vs. Shevchenko II could headline September’s UFC 215 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Either way, Nunes may have some weight cutting issues to deal with as her rival suggested, and it’s just not a good look for a UFC champion to be withdrawing the day of a high-profile summer pay-per-view (PPV(0 event. Will it motivate “Bullet” to come out even stronger when they finally do throw down in the rematch?

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Valentina Shevchenko Comments on Cancelled Amanda Nunes Fight at UFC 213

Valentina Shevchenko is unsurprisingly upset her main event match at UFC 213 was canceled.
Per Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter, the highly anticipated matchup was called off due to an Amanda Nunes illness. Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting added that Nunes…

Valentina Shevchenko is unsurprisingly upset her main event match at UFC 213 was canceled.

Per Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter, the highly anticipated matchup was called off due to an Amanda Nunes illness. Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting added that Nunes was in the hospital Saturday.

Still, her opponent didn’t accept these excuses:

“Nunes couldn’t cut weight correctly and was hospitalized,” Shevchenko tweeted. “She wanted to cut weight and recover rapidly to have the advantage.”

Another claim was that Nunes was “medically cleared” but “backed out.”

UFC President Dana White confirmed this in an interview on Fox Sports 1:

TMZ also reported Saturday that “doctors repeatedly checked her out but found nothing wrong.”

The bout between Nunes and Shevchenko was supposed to be for the women’s bantamweight title and a rematch of a close battle at UFC 196. Nunes earned the victory by unanimous decision and won her belt from Miesha Tate in her next fight. She subsequently defended it against Ronda Rousey.

Shevchenko will now have to wait to get another chance at avenging her loss.

In the meantime, Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will fight in the new main event at UFC 213.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Amanda Nunes OUT Of UFC 213 Main Event

Unfortunately for the UFC and fans across the world, the UFC 213 Main Event has been scrapped. Amanda Nunes and Valentina Schevchenko were scheduled to fight tonight for Amanda’s Bantamweight title, but according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Nunes has been feeling under the weather since yesterday. Was told Nunes felt really sick yesterday, tried […]

Unfortunately for the UFC and fans across the world, the UFC 213 Main Event has been scrapped. Amanda Nunes and Valentina Schevchenko were scheduled to fight tonight for Amanda’s Bantamweight title, but according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Nunes has been feeling under the weather since yesterday. Was told Nunes felt really sick yesterday, tried […]