Nicco Montano releases statement after UFC Vegas 33 weight miss, fight cancellation
Nicco Montano has released a statement after missing weight and seeing her latest fight booking cancelled.
The former UFC flyweight champion missed weight by seven pounds on Friday morning for a scheduled bantamweight bout opposite Wu Yanan that was to take place Saturday at UFC Vegas 33. Montano’s bout with Wu was subsequently cancelled.
This marks the latest setback in Montano’s career, which includes weight cut issues that forced her out of a flyweight title fight with Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 and a bout of COVID-19 that led to her withdraw from a bout with Julia Avila this past August.
Montano addressed Friday’s weigh-in drama via an Instagram post:
“I was dedicated through camp to this fight, training four hours a day, including my fasted 4-5 mile runs and unfortunately after years of cutting hard my metabolic system is not catching up with what efforts I’ve been putting in,” Montano wrote. “So I’ve been eating less for my workout sessions, training up until I had to come to the quarantine bubble and had to start my cut pretty high.
“I have done this cut before but unfortunately it just didn’t work out this time around. I think the most important thing for me to do is focus on getting my weight down healthily. Believe me I didn’t want this to happen and did everything in my power to make sure it didn’t but sometimes life kicks you in the balls over and over and over. But I’m learning that it’s only making me stronger and more resilient for what’s to come.
“And I only hope that anyone going through a rough patch in their loves does what I do, pick yourself up and believe in yourself to get through the tough times because there’s gonna be plenty more but patience is key in becoming the best version you can be.”
In an accompanying caption, Montano added the following:
I also want to say thank you to everyone at the UFC P.I. and Syndicate for believing in me and helping me get to this fight with more love and support than anyone could ask for. I truly felt the best I’ve ever felt going into this fight.
Saturday’s booking was to be just Montano’s third UFC bout since debuting with the promotion as a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 26. That season crowned the UFC’s inaugural women’s flyweight champion, a title that Montano earned when she defeated Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision in a tournament final.
Montano was later stripped of the title when she was unable to compete against Shevchenko at UFC 228. The only other UFC fight she competed in was at UFC Sacramento in July 2019, where she lost a unanimous decision to Julianna Pena in a bantamweight bout.
Post a Comment