The UFC has stripped Nicco Montano of her UFC flyweight title after she had to withdraw from her fight against Valentina Shevchenko. She was to defend her belt for the first time at UFC 228 this Saturday.
Dana White made the announcement post-UFC ceremonial weigh-ins to TSN. Valentina Shevchenko will challenge for the now vacant belt at a later date. According to MMA Junkie, Montano’s manager had not heard from the UFC directly about the stripping of the title.
Unfortunately, Montano was sent to the hospital after issues with cutting weight according to a report from MMA Fighting. Prior to White’s announcement, Montano’s team released a statement through training partner Steve Hanna which, in part, read, “The UFC medical team was called in to evaluate her this morning during the process of her weight cut. They determined that she had to cease cutting weight and be transported to and treated at the local hospital for issues regarding her kidney function.”
Montano won the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight championship at the TUF 26 Finale last December.
Payout Perspective:
This is an unfortunate circumstance for Montano who now must take a steep paycut from her pay as champion to a regular UFC athlete. Notably, her compensation from the Reebok sponsorship structure will drop from $40,000 to $3,500 per fight as she has less than three fights in the UFC. The decision to outright strip the title may be due to weight cutting issues. Despite the fact that the UFC has in the past granted fighters’ chances to continue as champion despite having to pull out late, they decided to strip her with her first defense.
Frankly, I did not even know Montano was champion which may say something about the lack of promotion for her in light of her title. This is too bad considering she may never get a shot at the title and/or will be forced to fight in the bantamweight division due to her inability to cut weight.
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