Amanda Nunes has been taken to hospital hours before her UFC 213 Bantamweight title defence against Valentina Shevchenko. An official UFC statement has sited ‘’illness’’ without going into any detail.
In the hours following Nunes’ withdrawal, Joanna Jedrzejczk made an unsuccessful attempt to fight Shevchenko in the vacant main card spot. Having already fought each other in numerous Muay Thai competitions, there was an improved chance of a rescheduled fight going ahead.
As confirmed by UFC president Dana White, Jedrzejczk tired to persuade him to allow the match. However, even with their history and apparent readiness of both fighters White declined, merely sighting that the fight would never make it past the regulations of The Nevada Athletic Commission.
Later, Nunes tweeted, ‘’Sorry to all my true fans. The fight will be rescheduled and I will be back at 100%’’. Many of us will be looking for the real reasons behind tonight’s events.
In an interview after the announcement of Nunes’ withdrawal, White stated: ‘’I think it was 90 percent mental 10 percent physical’’. With this limited information, it makes discovering the real truth difficult. There will be no doubt an inquiry into why this happened, by not only the UFC but also the fans.
This will be the third year in a row that UFC has had to cancel its main card fight at the annual International Fight Week.
At UFC 200, in 2016, Jon Jones was dropped from his fight against Daniel Cormier for testing positive for a banned substance. This resulted in Jones being given a 1-year ban from UFC. The rematch, will take place at UFC 214 on July 29.
In 2015 at UFC 189, a number of fight changes resulted in the main event being Conor McGregor’s victory against Chad Mendes.
Many will now wonder what this all means. UFC seems to have a problem with their showcase fights making it to the Octagon. Nunes, to me, seems to be a victim of everything that comes with fighting in the UFC. A constant need for promotional events and demands on fighters physically, as well as mentally, creates an untold strain. When those fighters are defending titles, this increases 10 fold.
Based on what Nunes has tweeted this is not the end of the story. In the coming days much will be said about the reasons for her withdrawal. We will have to wait and see what happens.
