UFC on ESPN+ 31 card featured an interesting co-main event of perennial contenders as Joanne Calderwood took on Jennifer Maia.
The fight booking came as a shock for the MMA community. Calderwood was slated to get a title shot against champ Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko however has to be on the sidelines recovering from an injury.
Calderwood took a huge risk in accepting the fight against Maia. The risk though didn’t off as she suffered a heartbreaking first round submission defeat. The loss probably took her chance to fight for the title as well.
However her night got even more worse as she fainted post her loss against Maia. She was immediately taken to a hospital. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Twitter. (via BJPENN.com):
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.”
She was also the second fighter to have fainted on the card. Trevin Giles who was supposed to kick off the main card against Kevin Holland fainted just minutes before his fight which led to the fight being cancelled.
Calderwood released statement after fainting following submission loss.
Calderwood took to social media to address the issue. As classy as always, the Scottish sweetheart vows to bounce back. (via Instagram):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDY6ZD4nQ0T/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
“Well that was a rough night at the office..congratulations to Jenifer Maia..I’m so grateful for my family, friends and fans that are here to help pick me back up in this crazy life we all share. It’s a fight, everyday we all fight, but it’s not everyday it goes our way. Thanks to all the @ufc staff, the medics and docs at umc..oh and my knight in shining armour @bigwoodmma702 sorry for scaring you babe! #nevergiveup”.
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