The co-main event of UFC 228 looks to be in jeopardy as Nicco Montano has been transported to the hospital according to Ariel Helwani of ESPN. With weigh-ins less than an hour away (7 pm IST), it’s unclear if she will fight Valentina Shevchenko.
Montano last fought in December 2017 where she defeated Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision to win UFC Flyweight title, she suffered from a bacterial infection that required surgery and that has delayed Montano from competing in the Octagon till this fight of her against Shevchenko.
Interestingly, even Valentina Shevchenko had previously predicted that she was unsure if Montano will show up on the fight night.
Nicco Montaño, the UFC women’s flyweight champion, has been transported to a local hospital, according to multiple sources. There is serious concern about the status of her title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at this time.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 7, 2018
In an interview given to MMAweekly on August 19, she said:
“I hope that Nicco will follow her word and show up in the octagon and fight, because before she’s inside the octagon, I can’t believe she’ll do it,” Shevchenko told reporters in a media scrum on Friday at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“Anything can happen,” she added. “Knowing her, seeing how she was reacting, how she said I’m ready for July 7, and she wanted to fight, but when the UFC came back to her and said let’s do it July 28, she said, ‘I need more time.’”
“You never know what can happen. Before I see her in the octagon, I will not believe she will do everything right.”
The MMAindia team hopes Montano is safe and nothing serious has occurred to her.
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