UFC women’s flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood (14-5 MMA) is having a very rough evening in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Scottish standout risked a future title shot with Valentina Shevchenko in order to take on Jennifer Maia in tonight’s UFC Vegas 5 co-main event.
Unfortunately for Calderwood, her gamble to not wait for Shevchenko to recover from injury did not payoff this evening as she was quickly submitted by Maia courtesy of a nasty armbar.
If that disappointment wasn’t enough, it had been confirmed that Joanne Calderwood fainted and was taken to hospital shortly following tonight’s devastating loss.
That news comes courtesy of ESPN’s Ariel Helwani who reported the following on Twitter.
Confirmed with Joanne Calderwood’s manager Danny Rubenstein that she fainted backstage after the fight. She is awake and responsive at a local hospital with her coach and fiancée John Wood. Quote in next tweet…
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 2, 2020
“Confirmed with Joanne Calderwood’s manager Danny Rubenstein that she fainted backstage after the fight. She is awake and responsive at a local hospital with her coach and fiancée John Wood. Quote in next tweet…”
Helwani continued:
“She was getting checked out in the medical room and fainted while sitting down. John Wood caught her, they laid her down and carted her out on a stretcher. Heart rate dropped on the way there but stabilized now.” She’s awake now @ the hospital. They don’t know yet what caused it
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 2, 2020
“‘She was getting checked out in the medical room and fainted while sitting down. John Wood caught her, they laid her down and carted her out on a stretcher. Heart rate dropped on the way there but stabilized now.’ She’s awake now @ the hospital. They don’t know yet what caused it.”
Prior to tonight’s loss to Jennifer Maia, Joanne Calderwood was coming off a split decision victory over Andrea Lee at UFC 242 which moved her into title contention.
However, following ‘JoJo’s’ loss to the Brazilian this evening, it appears that Valentina Shevchenko is now focused on defending her title against Jennifer Maia next.
Hopefully Calderwood’s post-fight incident does not turn out to be anything serious and she can return to action in the near future.
Who would you like to see Joanne Calderwood fight next following her submission loss to Jennifer Maia at tonight’s UFC Vegas 5 event? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on August 1, 2020