UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes was supposed to defend the belt against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 213, but then pulled out of the fight on the day of the event due to an illness.
Nina Ansaroff is the longtime girlfriend of Nunes and says just because Nunes was cleared to fight, doesn’t mean she should fight.
"We went to the doctor and they did all these blood exams, all these exams, and then they released her and said she was cleared,” Ansaroff said on The MMA Hour. "She still didn't look ok, she still didn't have an appetite. She didn't sleep that night, her heartbeat was over 100. Something wasn't right. The next morning we went back to the hospital and they did the CAT scan of her lungs, her abdomen, and they did the CAT scan of her sinuses, and the doctor was like ‘oh, there’s a little build up there,' but the UFC doctor cleared her. In my head, I’m just like, 'ok, well, cleared can mean many things.' A lot of people get cleared that haven't been ok to fight. I have been cleared when I wasn't ok to fight. So it didn't mean much to me because I know Amanda and I know Amanda’s character. That didn’t mean anything. She doesn't feel good she doesn't feel good.”
The fight between Nunes and Shevchenko has been rescheduled for UFC 215, it will serve as the co-main event of the evening.
Ansaroff also revealed that the same condition that knocked Nunes out of UFC 213 is the same condition Nunes fought with against Roda Rousey at UFC 207.
"She fought Ronda with the same condition she was going to fight Valentina,” Ansaroff said, "but fortunately (against Rousey) she was able to go through it. She didn't feel as much pressure, pain in the head as she did."
UFC 215 takes place on Saturday, September 9 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
