Saturday morning, fight fans were stunned to learn that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes had reportedly been hospitalized, and was forced to withdraw from her scheduled main event scrap with Valentina Shevchenko.
Nunes had reportedly been ill throughout the course of fight week prior to her withdrawal; however in a surprising turn of events, UFC President Dana White has now revealed that Nunes was actually cleared to fight by doctors.
Told by @danawhite that "the doctor cleared her to fight…she said she doesn't feel good. It is what it is. You can't make anyone fight."
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 8, 2017
Nevada commission's Bob Bennett says @Amanda_Leoa had issues "beyond" weakness from weight cut that led to her withdrawal.
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 8, 2017
Bennett says those issues shouldn't prevent @Amanda_Leoa from fighting again soon.
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 8, 2017
In the midst of the madness, UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk attempted to campaign to fill-in for Nunes on just 8 hours notice. Valentina Shevchenko then accepted Jedrzejczyk’s challenge, even going as far as to upping the stakes for the fill-in fight, calling for the inaugural women’s flyweight title to be on the line.
With that being said, NAC director Bob Bennett confirmed that there was no chance of Jedrzejczyk getting clearance to fight on such short notice.
Stay tuned for updates as they become available.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/8/2017.